CorpComms Magazine

The Newspaper Licensing Agency (NLA) has suspended invoicing for the new web licences for end users, following the decision of Norwegian software company Meltwater to challenge the proposed licences in the Copyright Tribunal.

The NLA was scheduled to start charging from 1 January, after announcing last year that newspaper publishers were keen to licence the distribution and use of their online coverage.

The announcement caused outrage among many PR professionals, and prompted a campaign against the charge by the Public Relations Consultants Association. However, most media monitoring and press cuttings agencies have signed up for the new licences.

Meltwater Group is challenging the legal basis of the NLA's licensing scheme, and its ability to license hyperlinking. Jorn Lyseggen, chief executive of Meltwater, said: 'We use sophisticated search algorithms to help our clients find content they otherwise would have difficulties locating. The NLA's attempt to licence our clients is essentially a tax on receiving these Internet links. This fee is not only unjust and unreasonable, it is contrary to the very spirit of the Internet.'

NewsNow, a content aggregator, pulled links to most national newspapers in its paid-for subscription service, after refusing to sign a licensing agreement. It said that it was 'not in a position' to launch a 'costly legal case on behalf of an entire industry'.

Francis Ingham, director general at the PRCA, welcomed the news, saying: 'This is a clear admission by the NLA that they are uncertain their proposed new licence is legal. Meltwater's intervention has transformed the landscape. The NLA's house of cards appears to be falling down and nobody will mourn its demise.'

David Pugh, managing director of the NLA, said: 'We are confident that the Copyright Tribunal will recognise that our web licensing scheme is measured and reasonable. But we do not want any licensed users of newspaper web monitoring to be disadvantaged by Meltwater's action. Clients of all media monitoring agencies should be on a level playing field.'

If the Copyright Tribunal rules in favour of the NLA, all charges will be backdated to 1 January 2010.  However, it may take up to 12 months for a decision to be announced. 

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