Google, Facebook forced to pay creators under new EU rules

Brussels: Online platforms will be required to compensate publishers and creators for the content that appears on their websites, under new European Union copyright rules agreed on Wednesday that could shrink access to online media in Europe.

The new rules mean music producers and publishers could come gunning for more money from Alphabet Inc’s Google and Facebook Inc to compensate for the display of their songs, video and news articles.

If artists and music producers refuse to grant platforms licences, tech firms will be required to remove or block uploads. And if platforms don’t negotiate licences with publishers, or if publishers don’t waive their rights, web firms won’t be able to display longer fragments of news articles under headlines.