Publishers in Australia this week start negotiations with the giant tech platforms to extract payment for using their unique news.
Google and Facebook need a deal with publishers on the use of their content or face further regulation by the federal government following the inquiry by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) into digital platforms..
The consumer watchdog wants negotiations to take place between February and April and a full draft agreement is expected by October.
Today Michael Miller, executive chairman at News Corp Australasia, says media companies must be compensated by platforms for how they use the journalism created by publishers.
"Digital disruption and the tech titans’ rise over the past two decades have dismantled the traditional journalism business model, cost thousands of jobs and closed many media outlets across the world," MIller writes in The Australian.
"These discussions are timely, and recent commercial arrangements with Facebook in the US and Apple have shown a constructive new path for relationships between publishers and platforms."
Robert Thomson, the global CEO of News, last week said News is seeing significant progress in a long battle for equitable treatment from the dominant tech platforms.
"Our deals with Apple and Facebook are beginning to yield financial dividends," he said when releasing the company's second quarter results.
In Australia, Miller says: "In these discussions with Google — and we hope Facebook also takes part in similar talks — we are confident that 2020 will mark a turning point for media sustainability in the modern digital world."
The federal government in December released its response to the recommendations of the ACCC Digital Platforms Inquiry.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg then said: "The government is not messing around, we will not hesitate to act.”
The inquiry was launched following concerns about the market power of major platforms, including Google and Facebook, and their impact on Australian businesses and journalism.
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