MPs complete draft of digital copyright law

ANKARA

A group of Turkish lawmakers has completed preparations for a digital copyright law that mandates payments for the use of online content produced within Türkiye, says the head of the Digital Media Commission.

The draft of the digital copyright law will be presented to MPs for approval following deliberations in the parliament over the 2025 budgets allocated to ministries and other state institutions, Hüseyin Yayman said on Nov. 28.

With Google at the center of long-standing debates regarding digital copyright law, its representatives expressed their willingness to hold talks and reach an agreement with Turkish authorities in June when the Turkish parliament summoned the giant.

After European Union countries compelled the search engine giant to pay royalties for news articles appearing in its search results, Türkiye took action to get the same ruling.

Google, which generates billions of dollars in revenue by distributing news content from around the world, recently decided to make payments to 300 media organizations in Europe. In a bold move, the European Union enacted a digital copyright law that has cornered Google, prohibiting it from profiting off free content in countries regulating such laws.

"Whatever agreement Google adheres to in Brussels, London, Paris, we want the same in Ankara. This is our red line. We don't want Google to make double standards," Yayman earlier said.

He argued that the absence of such legislation in Türkiye leaves news outlets producing content without proper remuneration.