Ancillary Copyright for News Publishers: Would Google Really Have to Pay? – A Competition Law Analysis

NZKart - Neue Zeitschrift für Kartellrecht (New Journal of Competition Law) 2013, 46

20 Pages Posted: 19 Jul 2014

See all articles by Christian Kersting

Christian Kersting

Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf - Faculty of Law

Sebastian Dworschak

Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf - Faculty of Law

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: 2013

Abstract

This paper is a translation of an earlier paper published in German: http://ssrn.com/abstract= 2206868.

At the time the first paper was published, the ancillary copyright for news publishers had not yet been adopted by the German legislator. However, the conclusions drawn in both papers are still valid.

The introduction of an ancillary copyright for news publishers was intended to allow news publishers to prohibit search engines to display snippets of their content, which until then did not enjoy copyright protection. Even though the ancillary copyright for news publishers was adopted in 2013, it is uncertain whether the snippets displayed by search engines enjoy copyright protection. A well-founded opinion argues that snippets still do not enjoy copyright protection. If, however, snippets enjoyed copyright protection, search engines would need to either stop displaying such snippets or license them from the publishers. Using Google as an example, this article discusses the plausibility of a potential competition law obligation to index publishers' content and pay publishers if snippets appear on a search results page. We conclude this is not the case: Google can avoid paying for snippets by refraining from indexing and displaying this content.

Keywords: ancillary copyright law, market dominance abuse, intellectual property law, antitrust law, search engine, publishers, snippets, Google, indexing, Leistungsschutzrecht, Immaterialgüterrecht, Suchmaschinen, Anrisstexte, Indexierung, Missbrauch marktbeherrschender Stellung

JEL Classification: K21, K29

Suggested Citation

Kersting, Christian and Dworschak, Sebastian, Ancillary Copyright for News Publishers: Would Google Really Have to Pay? – A Competition Law Analysis (2013). NZKart - Neue Zeitschrift für Kartellrecht (New Journal of Competition Law) 2013, 46, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2468121

Christian Kersting

Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf - Faculty of Law ( email )

Universitätsstr. 1
Düsseldorf, D-40225
Germany
0211 8111660 (Phone)

Sebastian Dworschak (Contact Author)

Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf - Faculty of Law ( email )

Universitätsstr. 1
Düsseldorf, D-40225
Germany
+49 211 81-11373 (Phone)

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