On the complex relationship between media and technological platforms. Google News and copyright in the digital environment

Abstract

The transposition of Directive 2019/790 on copyright in the digital single market into national legislation has once again shaken the European scenario, and especially the Spanish one, in the dispute that the US company has been holding with publishers, who claim remuneration in terms of copyright for linking to protected content. In our country, Royal Decree-Law 24/2021 transposing the Directive has meant the repeal of the so-called AEDE canon, eliminating the inalienability of its collection and allowing its individual management in an attempt to adapt copyright to the digital environment and correct market imbalances. Along these lines we reflect on the controversial adaptation of copyright to the digital environment and the dispute with Google in various European countries, with special attention to Spain; the positions of the two specific actors in the digital law market — news aggregators or media monitoring services and press publishers — are analysed; and we examined the recognition of the related right in favour of press publishers against online uses of their publications by digital content aggregators, one of the most debated aspects of the copyright model in Directive 2019/790.

Summary:
1. INTRODUCTION: THE PRESS AND ITS ADAPTATION TO THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT. 2. THE BATTLE FOR COPYRIGHT: GOOGLE NEWS. 2.1. Regulatory background: the reform of Spanish intellectual property legislation in 2014. 2.2. Arguments for and against the payment of royalties. 3. THE TRANSPOSITION OF DIRECTIVE (EU) 2019/790 INTO THE SPANISH LEGAL FRAMEWORK: KEY POINTS OF THE REFORM OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW. 4. THE PAYMENT OF TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES FOR CONTENT: THE END OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN PRESS PUBLISHERS AND LARGE PLATFORMS? 4.1. The reality of the negotiation: individual and confidential agreements. 4.2. The right of journalists to adequate remuneration. 5. FINAL REFLECTIONS.