On Tuesday about 30 independent publishers around Australia will stop publishing content for 24 hours.
. For 24 hours we will not be publishing our usual stories covering Australian communities and culture.Facebook and Google have agreed to meaningful commercial deals with major publishers, they have refused to negotiate on a meaningful basis with many of Australia’s independent and small publishers.
The code would require designated tech platforms to strike commercial deals with Australian publishers that recognised the value of the content those publishers provided the platforms. Any publisher deemed eligible according to established criteria by the Australian Communications and Media Authority would be entitled to negotiate a deal. If the platforms refused or commercial terms could not be agreed, the negotiation would enter arbitration.
A year on, an estimated $200 million has been negotiated from the platforms across about 20 deals. That is a meaningful accomplishment, of which Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and competition tsarHowever, the unintended consequence of not designating the platforms is that Australia’s independent and small publishers have been ignored and now face severe competitive disadvantage.