A German publishing rights association has announced that it wants the American search engine giant Google to pay media companies €420 million ($487 million) for 2022 for using journalistic content in Germany. The Corint Media Association manages the rights for nearly all television and radio stations in Germany, several international private broadcasters, as well as a large number of publishing houses.
Yesterday in Berlin, the association stated that licensing fees are required for the use of headlines, short article excerpts, and small images. The demand specifically pertains to about 200 digital publications published by the publishing houses for which the association, as an appointed organization, manages rights.
According to Corint Media, the revenues generated by Google in Germany have been used as a benchmark for these calculations. Google stated that it is committed to the law and guided by facts, not unfounded claims. They added that Corint ignores the reality that Google provides significant added value to publishers and does not generate substantial revenue from news content. Google, on its part, claims to be in discussions with German publishers.
This year, Germany's publishing law was amended to reflect the growing importance of the internet for content protected by copyright.
