Press publishers issue letters in support of article 11

 

12 December 2018

In a letter issued ahead of the COREPER and trilogue meeting (of 12 and 13 December respectively), a coalition of press publishers (including EMMA, ENPA, EPC and NME) have called on Member States to support article 11 of the Copyright Directive. The letter states that to do otherwise is to “condemn consumers to a future of news experienced through the lens of Google”. This appears to be in response to a caution from Google’s VP of News (Richard Gringas), who has previously claimed that the new article would result in the giving of “priority” to certain publishers in the event licensing is required (and ergo leading to the loss of some linkable content).

Furthermore, the CEO of News Media Alliance (a US-based trade association) has also expressed their support of the new article, labelling it “a true sign of Europe’s commitment to the future of news”. They claim that current business models are not sustainable, and are currently based on “publishers giving away huge amounts of their content for free”. Similar claims on the necessity of adequate remuneration (in respect of article 14 of the Directive) have also recently been made by a coalition of authors and performers representatives.