Canadian Broadcasters Want the Government to Require Apple to Pay for News

Regional broadcasters are demanding that Canada's online news laws be extended to include Apple News+ and other platforms, claiming that they now only apply to Meta/Facebook and Google.

The new legislation in Canada, known as the Online News Act, mandates that Google and Facebook pay royalties to the news publishers whose content they utilize. 

That is not going to happen, unfortunately, since Google and Facebook have both closed down their news services instead of making good on their debts.

Yet, a group that advocates for Canadian radio and television broadcasters is reportedly requesting an expansion of the Online News Act, as reported by the National Post. 

The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) has named Apple as an example of the company to whom it wants the legislation to apply to all online journalism.

Canadian broadcasters want government to make Apple pay for news

"The CAB believes that such services should be scoped into the framework, instead of being excluded up front," stated a spokeswoman.

Still, Apple does charge for the news that appears in Apple News+, in contrast to Facebook and Google. 

It is carried out globally, with assistance from Apple's News Partner Program.

Even though the Online News Act was signed into law in 2023, its specifics are still being worked out, and the government has been asking for recommendations—such as CABs—for it.

A representative for Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge stated, "As we've said all along, we are open to good and constructive ideas for enhancing the proposed framework." 

"Our objective remains the same of creating fair deals directly between news organizations and tech giants that can and should contribute more."

The Canadian government estimates that the rule will bring in CA$320 million ($233 million) a year, of which $175 million will go to broadcasters, according to the National Post.

It's unclear if Google and Facebook money is included in those projections.

Separately, though, authorities from the Canadian government have calculated that the two companies would have had to pay a total of $170 million if they hadn't withdrawn.

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