Esta es la versión HTML de un fichero adjunto a una solicitud de acceso a la información 'Notification of German Ancillary Copyright law'.




Ref. Ares(2020)3417416 - 30/06/2020

2. Exchange of views with the stakeholders: brief statements by each stakeholder followed by
a discussion (NB. the agenda shared with the meeting participants proposes three broad
questions to focus the discussion: see below
)
3. Closing of the meeting - Commissioner OETTINGER
Objectives: 
The objective of this roundtable is to clearly identify the positions of the different European 
newspaper publishers in relation to the problems they face as regards the online exploitation 
of their products (particularly but not exclusively on aggregation platforms such as Google 
News) and the related possible solutions.  
As a background, over the last few years many newspapers publishers have been vocally 
asking the Commission to propose modifications to EU copyright law with the objective to 
grant publishers new harmonised rights at EU level. Publishers are currently not identified as 
rightholders by EU copyright rules: they licence/enforce rights either on the basis of the rights 
authors (eg. journalists) transfer to them contractually and/or (in some Member States) as 
authors of "collective works". Publishers justify their request with the difficulties they face 
when seeking to monetise online uses of their content, in particular by online platforms (such 
as news aggregators) that link to press articles freely available online and/or use excerpts 
("snippets") of articles without acquiring licences from the right owners. At the same time, 
due to the dominant positions of these platforms, many publishers depend on the web traffic 
generated by the platforms.  
Solutions to these problems have been attempted at national level, in particular in Germany 
and Spain. The adoption of a German law granting press publishers an "ancillary right" in 
2013 and of a Spanish law introducing a "compensation right" for press publishers in 2014 
(see details in the background) have not yielded the expected results but have contributed to 
spark the debate about possible solutions at EU level.  
The whole discussion about possible new rights at EU level for publishers is highly 
controversial. The European Parliament debated about new rights for publishers in the context 
of the "Reda-Report" (July 2015). Proposals from the EPP to request or examine new 
publishers' rights did not gain a majority and were voted down in that context. The 
Commission has taken up the debate in the 9 December 2016 Communication "Towards a 
modern, more European copyright". The recent Communication indicates that the 
Commission will look at the issue of "news aggregators" including as regards a possible 
intervention "on rights in general", in the chapter covering the objective of a "well-
functioning market place for copyright"). Partly as a reaction to the Communication, in a 
letter of December 2014, 80 MEPs from the main political groups (except EPP) rejected the 
idea of new rights for press publishers.  
Their Position: 
Generally, news publishers are under pressure from content aggregators such as Google 
(Google News) and other platforms (for example Facebook) which build (part of their) 
services on the reuse of newspapers content freely available online (for example on 
newspapers webpages). This is part of a more general situation where news publishers are 
struggling to find new business models adapted to new consumption habits. Increasingly, 
consumers expect that they can access/use content on various devices and platforms. 
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Newspapers publishers often point to the paradox that while their content has never been so 
successful with the public licencing/monetising its use online is today more difficult than 
ever.  
While most of the mainstream European newspaper publishers consider that a solution 
strengthening their bargain power vis à vis platform is needed at EU level, there is no 
homogenous position of press publishers on how to respond to these challenges.  
Different solutions are advocated: 
Whereas certain publishers ask for a mere compensation or remuneration right (the 
publisher cannot prevent the online use and only has the right to claim compensation, subject 
to collective management, the "Spanish" approach": see the background), others take the view 
that publishers need exclusive rights in order to licence their rights to users and favour other 
solutions.  
Amongst those asking for an exclusive right, some seem to prefer (or at least indicated in the 
past to prefer) a so-called ancillary right (exclusive economic right only related to online 
exploitation – mainly the use of snippets-  with a very short term of protection (possibly one 
year - the "German" approach). The request for an ancillary right has often been coupled with 
the request to introduce a compulsory collective management of this right by publishers' 
collecting societies. 
Finally, others (apparently the majority in the industry) would prefer a fully-fledged 
neighbouring right (exclusive economic right related to copyright for all kinds of uses, 
offline and online, protected for 50 years after publication). In essence a neighbouring right 
would grant press publishers an equal status as the one enjoyed by the other neighbouring 
rightholders in the EU copyright acquis, notably films and music producers and broadcasters 
It seems increasingly clear (see the EPC position's below) that the request for a neighbouring 
right is gaining pace as a common denominator among publishers' requests. It has to be noted 
that so far the discussion has concerned almost exclusively press/news publishers and that 
other print publishers (such as scientific publishers or book publishers) have been rather silent 
on this issue. It is possible that in future these other categories of publishers may join the 
press industry in asking for the introduction of a neighbouring right. 
In a meeting with the Cabinet in December 2015, the European Publishers' Council (EPC) 
took finally the position that publishers needed a fully-fledged neighbouring right. EPC 
indicated that there was no agreement amongst its members to back the requests previously 
formulated by some individual publishers to introduce at EU level an ancillary right or a 
compensation/remuneration right. In this respect, it appears that most EPC members would 
have concerns if an ancillary right was introduced particularly because of the compulsory 
collective management feature normally associated to this concept. They seem to consider 
that an ancillary right with compulsory collective management would weaken their licencing 
bargaining power notably in cases where today they succeed in licencing their product (for 
example for big companies/organisations press reviews). More in general, EPC seems to 
consider that Google News is a very specific problem likely to disappear and that other 
business models building on the online use of their content are likely to emerge (for example 
social media are increasingly "using" news articles), as well as new type of problems. In this 
context, an EU-harmonised fully-fledged neighbouring right for press publishers is considered 
to be much more future-proof than an ancillary right or similar solutions.  
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Further discussions with the publishing industry have revealed that the main associations 
(EPC EMMA, ENPA, NME) are now supportive of the neighbouring right- solution. Finally, 
calls for a neighbouring right for publishers have also become stronger after a recent CJEU 
ruling in which the Court clarified that publishers are not considered right owners under the 
EU Copyright Directive (2001/29/EC) in the context of the distribution of private copying 
levies ("Reprobel"-case"). 
Our Position: 
We agree that the Digital Single Market needs to ensure a fair sharing of the benefits 
generated from online uses of copyright protected con
tent. This is the objective that we 
have formulated under the section on "a well-functioning value chain for copyright" in the 
December Communication and that we will be pursuing notably through the intervention on 
intermediaries in the 2016 legislative package (the "value gap" issue). To be noted that the 
planned intervention in the area of the "value gap" while not fully addressing the request of to 
introduce new rights, will go some way in improving the situation of publishers vis à vis 
internet platforms and is as such supported by the EPC.  
However we believe that we should be careful not to rush to legislate by adding new 
rights
 (because of the risk of further fragmenting the digital single market and making the
licencing processes and the whole copyright regime more complex) in the EU acquis. Any
initiative in this area will have to be backed by sound analysis and evidence, which is not
clear yet at this stage.  
We also need to be aware that the creation of an ancillary right for press publishers has not 
proven efficient at national level, notably in Germany and Spain and does not seem to be 
politically feasible (see the strong opposition of many in the EU Parliament). At the moment 
an ancillary right does not seem to be backed by the industry, nor justified by enough 
evidence (besides being extremely controversial politically).
  
The possibility to introduce a neighbouring right for publishers seems to be the solution 
favoured by the industry, but this would be a long term project which would have a 
massive impact on the EU copyright system, still to be properly assessed
. The 
introduction of a new category of rightholders in the EU copyright framework would be a 
massive endeavour both in political terms (this would be opposed by many that would see it 
as the addition of a further level of complexity/protection in the EU copyright system) and as 
regards the economic impact (other rightholders may see this as resulting in a reduction of 
"the slice of the cake"; service providers will consider this a source of fragmentation and 
transaction costs; journalists may see it as a reduction of the "economic weight" of their own 
rights, etc).  
Line to Take: 
• The objective of this roundtable is to clearly identify the positions of the different
European newspaper publishers in relation to the problems they face as regards the
online exploitation of their products.
• As indicated in the recent Copyright Communication (9 December 2015), the
Commission's objective is to ensure a well-functioning value chain for copyright in the
Digital Single Market, to rewards investments in creation and ensure that rightholders
are paid when their content is used online.
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the beneficiaries of this potential new right (i.e. publishers of written content, 
publishers of all (including audiovisual) media, all the publishers?) And 
why/how would this make a difference?] 

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öffentlichen Diskurs mitzugestalten. Eine lebendige 
Debatte über gesellschaftliche und politische Themen ist 
das Fundament für unsere Demokratie. 
• Meine Kollegen in DG CONNECT sowie ich selbst stehen
Ihnen gern für weitere Gespräche zur Verfügung.
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IV. Background
Google News and legislative initiatives in the Member States 
Google News offers internet users access to news published in the press by providing the headlines 
and the first lines of press articles along with the links to the original pages. This has resulted into 
litigation in a number of Member States (notably in Belgium and France). In France Google reached 
an agreement with press publishers in 2013 (by establishing a €60 m fund to support French press 
publishers).  
Two Member States (Germany and Spain) have adopted laws to address press publishers' concerns. 
Both aim at the same result (i.e. payment to press publishers for the use of their works by news 
aggregators), but follow different approaches: 
• Under the Spanish law, news aggregators do not need an authorisation from the relevant right
holders to make news snippets available to the public. However, the use is subject to the
payment of an equitable compensation to the publishers or authors of the original press
articles. This compensation cannot be waived and is subject to mandatory collective
management. The exception will not be applicable to images or photographs. For the latter, the
exclusive right of the relevant right owners remains.
• Germany has introduced an ancillary right for press publishers, in force since August 2013.
The law grants newspaper publishers an exclusive right to allow or prohibit the making
available of press products or parts of press products online. The making available is lawful
unless carried out by commercial news aggregators such as search engines or social networks.
Authors and journalists have a right to participate in a possible remuneration.
German ancillary right for press publishers 
Initially, certain big publishers (Springer, Burda etc.) gave their approval to have their publications 
included in Google News. In February 2014, 12 publishers, including Springer, Burda and Dumont 
Schauberg joined the collecting society VG Media. In June 2014, VG Media published their tariff (up 
to 11% of the turnover generated from the making available of the snippets). After Google's refusal to 
pay licence fees based on this tariff, VG Media filed a complaint against Google with the Federal 
Competition Authority. In August 2014, the complaint was dismissed on grounds of inadmissibility 
(The Federal Competition Authority confirmed on 9 September 2015 that Google did not behave 
unlawfully). In October 2014, Google announced that it would display only the titles of publications 
and their links (which are not covered by the exclusive right). As a consequence, the publishers 
represented in VG Media agreed again with the display of snippets. 
In parallel, several publishers represented by VG Media have started a proceeding against Google at 
the Regional Court Berlin. In their view, Google abuses its dominant position by announcing that it 
would display only the titles of publications and their links unless it received a free of charge licence.  
Recent developments 
Furthermore, VG Media has filed a complaint against Google with the arbitration body of the Patent 
and Trademark Office (DPMA), the competent supervisory authority for collecting societies. The 
DPMA issued its decision on 24 September 2015: 
• DPMA takes the view that Google is in principle obliged to pay the tariff set by VG Media, but that
the concrete rate is too high (VG Media had asked for about 6% of the turnover Google made of
exploiting German press products).
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Total revenues  € 3,037.9 million 
Operating profit (EBITDA) 
€ 507,1 million 
Headquarters Berlin 
 
Burda 
At total consolidated sales of €2.46 billion and over 10,000 employees in 18 countries, Hubert Burda 
Media is Germany’s leading magazine publishing house and one of Europe’s largest consumer internet 
companies. Burda’s digital activities have been the main driver of the company’s growth. Hubert 
Burda Media reaches over 160 million users online; 40 million consumers enter into paying 
relationships with one of Burda’s 400 brands. The company offers about 80 magazines in Germany 
and another 240 magazines all over the world. 
Financial Times 
The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading business news organisations, It is part of the Nikkei 
group, a global news and business information organisation based in Japan with annual revenues of 
over €2bn.  
The FT has a global headcount of 2,200 people, including 600 journalists in more than 40 countries, 
and is recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. FT's combined paid print and 
digital circulation exceeds 750,000. Over 50% of FT's revenue comes from content rather than 
advertising, and mobile drives almost 50% of total traffic. Key current areas of growth include digital 
content, digital advertising and live events. 
 
Grupo Heraldo 
Grupo Heraldo is a communication group mostly active in Aragón. The origin of the group is the 
regional newspaper Heraldo de Aragón. From this, a group was born integrating or creating different 
companies linked in one way or another to communication. Today the Grupo Heraldo has its own 
companies for printing the press (their own or others' papers), distributing them, IT, audiovisual, radio, 
and so on. They also have investments in other communication companies in Spain (including 
Vocento and Grupo Prisa). Their annual turnover is around 100 m EUR. 
 
Guardian Media Group 
Guardian Media Group is the owner of Guardian News & Media Ltd one of the UK’s leading media 
organisations, publisher of The Guardian, The Observer and theguardian.com and global online 
presence with dedicated sites in the US and Australia. 
 
News Corp 
News Corp is a global diversified media and information services company focused on creating and 
distributing authoritative and engaging content to consumers and businesses throughout the world. The 
company comprises businesses across a range of media, including: news and information services, 
 
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book publishing, digital real estate services, and cable network programming and pay-TV distribution 
in Australia, that are distributed under some of the world’s most recognizable and respected brands.  
News Corp’s commitment to premium content makes its properties a trusted source of news and 
information and a premier destination for consumers across various media. In Europe, News Corp has 
significant press interests primarily through its News UK and Dow Jones businesses.  These interests 
include: 
News UK 
The Times (TheTimes.co.uk, TheTimes.ie) 
The Sunday Times (TheSundayTimes.co.uk, TheSundayTimes.ie) 
The Sun (TheSun.co.uk, TheSun.ie, TheScottishSun.co.uk)  
The Sun on Sunday (TheSun.co.uk) 
Dow Jones 
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ.com and WSJ.com/Europe)  
Barron’s (Barrons.com) 
MarketWatch (MarketWatch.com) 
 
De Persgroep 
De Persgroep is a leading provider of information and entertainment in Belgium, The Netherlands and 
Denmark. De Persgroep brings market leading brands to an audience of millions. De Persgroep’s 
portfolio includes newspapers, magazines, radio stations, TV stations and online operations in the 
segments of news, recruitment, automotive, and technology with various websites.  
Its brands include De Morgen, Het Laatste Nieuws, HUMO, De Volkskrant, Trouw, AD, De Tijd, 
L’Echo, HLN.be, NationaleVacaturebank.nl, Tweakers.net, Q-Music, VTM, Dag Allemaal, Het 
Parool, Brabants Dagblad, De Gelderlander, Eindhovens Dagblad, Berlingske, BT, Weekendavisen. 
De Persgroep is headquartered in Kobbegem, Belgium. For further details please refer to our website 
at www.persgroep.be. 
 
Reutlinger Generalanzeiger 
The Reutlinger General-Anzeiger (GEA) is the only independent daily newspaper in the Neckar-Alb 
region with its own editorial board. The circulation of the GEA is of 37,909 copies per day and each 
edition of the Newspaper has an average of 2.8 readers. The newspaper covers the regional news of 
Reutlingen and the Neckar-Alb region (where it is printed) and has existed since 1888. 
 
Roularta 
Roularta Media Group (RMG was founded in 1954) is a Belgian multimedia group quoted on the 
stock exchange with over 2,000 employees and a total turnover of 500 million euro. 
 
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Over the past few decades, RMG introduced the biggest newspapers of the country on the market (De 
Streekkrant – 50 regional weeklies with over 2.5 million copies – and De Zondag – 16 regional 
weeklies with a circulation of 600,000 copies) and the biggest magazines of the country (Steps – 16 
regional monthlies with a circulation of 700,000 copies). 
Roularta created the six Belgian news magazines (Knack - Le Vif/L’Express, Trends N/F and 
Sportmagazine N/F) as well as a series of specific niche magazines (such as Nest N/F and Plus 
Magazine in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany). 
By way of takeovers, Roularta acquired market leadership in the field of medical editions, IT 
publications and specialized magazines for the Graphic industry. Roularta joined the initiative to 
launch Flemish television and radio stations and holds 50% of the shares in Medialaan. 
Roularta is launching online and other digital initiatives: Knack.be/LeVif.be is the biggest news site in 
the country when it comes to quality news with 1.8 million “real users”. 
Digilocal is the complete services pack for local advertisers: thanks to Google Adwords, Facebook 
advertisements, Proxistore (local advertising on important news sites) and Proxymail (local advertising 
via electronic newsletters of the group), websites, e-shops and the e-commerce platform Storesquare. 
In the future, RMG aims to innovate through well-thought, targeted cross-media solutions based on its 
strong brands. 
 
Schibsted 
Schibsted Media Group is a Norwegian media group with operations in 29 countries, the most 
important being Norway and Sweden. The company has its headquarters in Oslo, Norway, and is listed 
on Oslo Stock Exchange. Schibsted is widely considered a digital pioneer in news media publishing in 
Europe. 
 
Società Edizioni e Pubblicazioni (SEP) (Il Secolo XIX) 
Italiana  Editrice S.p.A. (ITEDI) is an Italian multimedia publishing group, formed in 2015 from the 
merger of the newspapers La Stampa and Il Secolo XIX. The new group is controlled by Fiat Chrysler 
Automobile (77%) and Mercurio S.p.A./Perrone (23%). Mr John Elkann is Chairman of the Board and 
Mr Carlo Perrone Vice-Chairman. The new group has over 240 journalists and a circulation of 
250.000 daily copies with a dominant position in North West of Italy. 
 
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