je.st
news
Spanish cabinet approves own 'Google tax'
2014-02-17 08:48:00| Telecompaper Headlines
(Telecompaper) The Spanish Cabinet has approved a draft reform of the Intellectual Property Law, under which news media companies in Spain will be able to charge search engines such as Google and Yahoo for displaying copyrighted content. The measure, a long-standing demand of news companies, is similar to other laws passed in countries such as France and has already been dubbed the 'Google tax'. In the presentation of the reform, Spanish deputy prime minister Soraya Saenz de Santamarķa and education and culture minister Jose Ignacio Wert explained that the reproduction of "non-significant fragments" without prior authorization would be permitted but would require the payment of "fair compensation" for doing so. Prior authorization will still be required for the use of photographs. No further details were provided on how "non-significant fragments" would be defined or how the amounts due would be calculated. The proposed reform relating to search engines and news aggregators is just one element in a major overhaul of intellectual property regulations that the government has been working on since last year in an effort to curb widespread internet piracy.
Tags: google
tax
spanish
cabinet
Category:Telecommunications