Info on the Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA) & Antitrust Lawsuit Against Facebook & Google
E&P Exclusives

Senate subcommittee hears debate on Journalism Competition and Preservation Act

The Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA) is a bipartisan bill that would help ensure news publishers receive fair compensation from Google and Facebook for use of their original content. Access recordings and re-cap of yesterday's (2/2/22) Senate hearing. Witnesses include: Trib Total Media CEO Jennifer Bertetto, WTOP News GM Joel Oxley, Hal Singer of Econ One Research and others.

The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) hopes to bring Big Tech to the bargaining table with U.S. news publishers. On this 122nd episode of E&P Reports, Danielle Coffey, executive vice president and general counsel for the News Media Alliance (NMA), and economist Dr. Hal Singer, managing director, Econ One, discuss why this legislation is urgently needed and offer advance insight into this week’s Congressional hearing before the Senate's Antitrust Committee, where the JCPA will be debated and Dr. Singer will be testifying.
The case spearheaded by HD Media now has approximately 30 co-plaintiffs, representing more than 200 newspaper titles across North America. David Chavern, President / CEO of the News Media Alliance and Lee Wolverton, VP News/ Executive Editor at HD Media chat with E&P's Contributing Editor Gretchen Peck and Publisher Mike Blinder about the latest developments in the class action lawsuit naming both Google and Facebook as defendants and why more publishers are needed now, to participate.
JCPA (Safe Harbor Bill) Resources
 Download complete Safe Harbor Bill, House (H.R. 1735)

Read more

 Download complete Safe Harbor Bill, House (H.R. 1735)

Read more

Sign the Change.org petition to encourage Congress to pass the Journalism Competition & Preservation Act, a bipartisan bill that that would help ensure news publishers receive fair compensation from Google and Facebook for use of their original content.

Read more

Presentation by the News Media Alliance on why the news publishing industry should support the Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA), also known as the Safe Harbor Bill.

Read more

Antitrust Lawsuit Resources
Here are the attorneys involved with the antitrust complaint filed in U.S. District Court Southern District of New York (Civil Action No.: 1:21-md-03010-PKC)
Newspapers all over the country have been quietly filing lawsuits against Google and Facebook for the past year, alleging the two firms have monopolized the digital ad market.
As of December 16, 2020, Mark Lanier and the business litigation team within The Lanier Law Firm have been retained as trial counsel for the antitrust litigation against Google in the state of Texas. The Lanier Law Firm filed a 130-page lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, joined by nine additional state attorneys general.

Read more

More Compensation & Antitrust Industry News

Meta exec threatens to halt news content in Canada

Meta has reiterated its threat that it will “end the availability of news content in Canada” if Bill C-18, The Online News Act, comes into law.

‘Power and predation:’ Advertising monopoly draws fire at Google

A bipartisan bill would limit big tech companies from participating simultaneously in every stage of the digital ads ecosystem.

Google, Meta executives push back against Canada online news bill

Google and Meta would withdraw access to news articles in Canada if legislation compelling internet companies to pay news publishers is passed, company executives told Canadian lawmakers on Wednesday.

Ruling confirms Google must face DOJ's digital advertising antitrust lawsuit

Siding against Google, a federal judge on Friday refused to dismiss the Department of Justice's lawsuit claiming that the company used anticompetitive tactics to monopolize digital display advertising.

States lose appeal to unwind Meta purchases of Instagram, WhatsApp

For the second time, officials have failed in court in their efforts to curb the tech giant's reach.

Senators reintroduce bipartisan journalism antitrust bill

Two U.S. senators are reviving a bipartisan effort to allow local news outlets to negotiate for fair compensation from large digital platforms that use their content.

A federal judge on Friday set a fast-paced schedule in the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit challenging Google LLC's digital advertising technology practices, moving the case along more quickly than either side had proposed.
Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google is rolling out tests that block access to news content for some Canadian users, the company confirmed on Wednesday, in what it says is a test run of a potential response to the government's online news bill.
Letter asks Biden to call on Congress to pass the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act.
An antitrust suit that challenges Google’s dominance of online advertising offers hope for the survival of the local free press. Justice moves slowly, however, and in the meantime, Congress should take steps to help local news survive.
The Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit, which a group of states joined, was the fifth against the company since 2020.
Congress had an opportunity this year to take an important step to support stronger communities, better government and civil discourse. Unfortunately, a heavy lobbying effort succeeded in derailing the bipartisan Journalism Competition and Preservation Act that would have given regional and small publishers the opportunity to negotiate fair compensation for the journalism that Google and Facebook host on their platforms.
OTTAWA - The House of Commons passed a Liberal bill on Wednesday designed to require web giants to compensate journalism outfits for reposting their content, and Meta is once again threatening to remove news content from Facebook in Canada.
It’s no secret that local journalism is in deep trouble. More than two newspapers are disappearing each week, on average, and more than a fifth of Americans live in “news deserts” — communities that have lost, or are in the process of losing, their local news providers. As a result, lies and other misinformation proliferate, damaging American democracy.
Facebook threatened to block news in the U.S. over the measure, which was under consideration as part of a defense package.
Lawmakers have added a measure to Congress' must-pass defense funding bill that would force Big Tech firms like Google and Meta to pay hundreds of local news outlets for their content, sources tell Axios.
The JCPA has a shot at passage in lame-duck Congress, advocates say.
As part of its ongoing platforms and publishers research, the Tow Center is tracking Canada’s Online News Act, or Bill C-18, as it advances through parliament. The bill, which is modeled after Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code, would require digital platforms who benefit from distributing news publishers’ content to share their revenues with news businesses.
Facebook warned on Friday that it may block sharing of news content on its platform in Canada over concerns about legislation that would compel digital platforms to pay news publishers.
The powers that Google and Facebook have over economic and political power in society — especially over the news industry — has caught the attention of lawmakers in Washington, D.C.  After a close election and many worries over the quality of public debate, many ask if social media have played a role in the misinformation that erodes  our free press and plagues our democracy.
A bill that would let most news outlets collectively negotiate with dominant tech platforms for compensation to distribute their content advanced out of a Senate committee Thursday after Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) struck a deal.