Assault on Google News Berlin Cabinet Approves New Web Copyright Law

[Draggingtree]

Spiegel on Line:

 

 

08/30/2012 30.08.2012

 

Assault on Google News Berlin Cabinet Approves New Web Copyright Law

 

 

 

 

The government of Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to require Google and other aggregators to pay for reproducing content from news websites. Her cabinet on Wednesday agreed on a draft law that would impose a fee even for tiny snippets of text. Web activists are outraged.

 

 

 

Google News, of course, looks not unlike the homepage of a standard newspaper. It is divided into sections, some articles have short teasers to pique the interest of readers and photos illustrate the stories of the day.

 

If Chancellor Angela Merkel gets her way, however, that may soon change in Germany. Her cabinet on Wednesday agreed on a draft law that would require Google and other news aggregator sites to pay publishing houses a fee when they take snippets of articles for reproduction on their site.

 

"Publishers should be better protected on the Internet," reads a statement from Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger posted on the homepage of Germany's Justice Ministry. "They will now receive a tailor-made copyright law for their online presence."

 

Essentially, the law is an attempt to ensure that German news websites receive a share of the profits Google makes