Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has issued a five-year exemption to Google from the Online News Act.
With the order issued, Google will pay $100 million to Canadian news organizations to exempt the platform from being required to bargain with individual news organizations.
The funds will be distributed by the Canadian Journalism Collective (CJC). Dispersal is expected to take place within 60 days.
Those interested in receiving funding are required to submit an application to the CJC by Nov. 1. Click here to apply.
The CRTC also stated that:
- The CJC is to calculate equitable distribution of monetary compensation among news businesses based on the number of FTE (full-time equivalent) employees, which does not include freelancers;
- The Commission considers the two per cent limit for administrative costs to be reasonable, provided the funds are used only for activities related to the distribution of funding to news businesses, which means a minimum of $98 million will be distributed.