In Australia there are important news in the world of online publishing. The Minderoo Foundation, billionaire Andrew Forrest's philanthropic organization, has announced it will help 18 small publishers to negotiate collectively with Google e Facebook the license to publish the news. The Foundation will submit an application to the country's Antitrust to allow publishers to continue the negotiation without violating competition laws. The move comes after the Authority allowed a body representing 261 radio stations to negotiate a similar content deal late last month.
In Australia, since last March, Facebook and Google have been required to agree with providers to pay for content that drives traffic and advertising on their sites. Otherwise, the government could take the field.
Since then the two Californian giants have signed licensing agreements with most major Australian media outlets, but many small businesses stayed out from the negotiation. That's why Frontier Technology, a Minderoo initiative, said it would help publishers.
"Small Australian newspapers that produce public interest journalism for their communities should have the same opportunity as large publishers to negotiate licenses for the use of their content," said Emma McDonald, director of policy at Frontier Technology, in a statement.
A Google spokesman responded to the initiative by reiterating that "talks continue with publishers of all sizes." Facebook said it has "long supported small independent publishers".
Forrest, Australia's richest man, is the chairman and largest shareholder of the mining group Fortescue Metals Group. According to the Australian Financial Review, his net worth is around US$19,7 billion.
Among the 18 small publishers involved in the initiative are local or regional online publications, McDonald added.
On the other side of the planet, therefore, progress is being made on a controversial issue at all latitudes: the economic damage caused to online publishing by aggregators who use other people's content to make a profit and without paying.
