Freedom of information request discloses further study on press publishers’ right

 

3 April 2018

Following a freedom of information request in respect of documents held by the EPSC, a draft paper produced by The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission entitled “The economics of online news aggregation and neighbouring rights for news publishers” is now available. The paper was initially presented to the ESPC on 25 October 2016, with results apparently available since early 2016 according to an internal communication. The paper involves an an economic analysis of the right to remuneration for news publishers in Spain and Germany, and concludes that press publishers ultimately benefit from the constant news aggregation via online platforms. Furthermore, the paper surmises that “the law can create a right but market forces have valued this right at a zero price”, calling into question the legitimacy of a press publishers’ right which has zero value.