Parliamentary head calls for digital copyright law for web payments

ANKARA

Turkish parliament's digital media commission head has advocated for the immediate implementation of digital copyright law in a bid to secure fair compensation for media outlets in Türkiye.

Hüseyin Yayman contends that while in many developed nations, Google compensates media outlets handsomely for their online content, Türkiye's lack of such legislation leaves its news outlets producing content without remuneration.

His call for action comes on the heels of Canada's recent agreement with Google, where the tech giant has committed to paying around $74 million annually under the country's "online news law."

"Labor is sacred and should be respected... Unfortunately, there is a lack of regulation on this issue. Our copyright law is outdated, we are talking about a law that is 70 years old," Yayman told daily Milliyet. "There is a social need to reorganize this. There is a need for people who produce labor and content on this issue."

Yayman highlighted the urgency of establishing a new contract between content producers and transnational digital platforms, insisting that Türkiye should align its digital copyright norms with those in Germany, France, Austria, the United Kingdom and the United States.

"Digital networks should apply the same digital copyright norms in Ankara as they do in Berlin, London, Paris and Washington," he said.

The parliamentary commission led by Yayman is actively engaging with representatives from the Culture and Tourism Ministry, state-run Anadolu news agency and Google to pave the way for negotiations. Yayman asserts, "Google will come and sign for copyright in Türkiye. Our work is in this direction."

Digital copyright expert Levent Eraslan sheds light on the roots of the problem, pointing out that the challenges have arisen with the digitalization of the media. He notes the impact on the local press, explaining, "Especially in search engine scans, many copyrighted works – both images, news and photographs – are used and anonymized. The local press suffers a lot from this issue."

Eraslan underscores the significant positive impact of digital copyright law on local news outlets, stating, "The press, in general, will benefit from digital copyright law in our country, but the local press will see the most important contribution and benefit. Because the special news of a city, district or region is very valuable."