The Office of Electronic Communications (UKE) will take the lead in determining the financial compensation Google must provide to Polish media publishers for accessing their content.
Following unsuccessful negotiations between Google and Polish media outlets, UKE’s president will decide the compensation amount that Google should pay for utilizing content generated by these publishers in its search engine, according to reports from Wirtualne Media. The request for this adjudication was submitted in late June by the Association of Journalists and Publishers Repropol.
The UKE president, who is responsible for regulating the telecommunications market, conducted formal mediation attempts between Polish publishers and the American tech giant. The dispute involves fees estimated to reach hundreds of millions of Polish zloty for the use of journalistic content, which is monetized by major tech companies, including Google.
Estimates from the Association of Digital Publishers suggest that Google could owe as much as 514 million PLN annually for the use of Polish media content.
After several months of negotiations and subsequent mediations, discussions concluded without agreement. The contention centers around payments arising from the implementation of the EU’s Digital Single Market (DSM) directive into Polish copyright law.
In light of the breakdown in talks with Google, Repropol has requested the UKE president to issue a ruling on the compensation amount.
The recent amendment to copyright law stipulates that if an agreement is not reached between the parties, the UKE president will set the fee. Both parties have the option to contest the ruling in a common court, but such a move does not suspend the enforcement of the decision.
The obligation to pay arises regardless of whether an appeal is filed in court; the platform must compensate the journalists and publishers, even if it contests UKE’s ruling.
Source: Wirtualne Media
