Senate Judiciary Schedules Journalism Bill for Markup
The Senate Judiciary Committee slated the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act for markup Thursday (see 2204200049 and 2204050074). This is the first time S-673 has been on the committee’s markup agenda, meaning it will be held over until Judiciary’s next…
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executive business meeting, after the August recess. The JCPA would allow news publishers to negotiate revenue sharing with online platforms through an antitrust exemption. The bill proposes an “expansion of copyright and imposition of a link tax” so extreme that even the “Copyright Office recommended against it,” said Fight for the Future Director Evan Greer in a statement: “The bill would force tech platforms to carry and pay for links to articles from outlets the government designates as news.” NAB and the News Media Alliance support the legislation. Tech industry groups and various consumer advocates, including Public Knowledge, opposed iterations of the bill. PK Senior Policy Analyst Lisa Macpherson said Tuesday that the JCPA isn't the answer to journalism's challenges: It "forces news organizations to negotiate alongside publications with diametrically opposing values. The bill excludes only the nation's most giant news organizations from enjoying Big Tech's largesse, and lumps small outlets in with powerful behemoths who can make an outsized impact on negotiations. Finally, the bill encourages more consolidation in an already shrinking industry."