Google Starts Public Campaign Against German Legislation

Google began a high-profile campaign against a German copyright bill that could force search engines to pay for linking to news articles, a move that the company said could hobble basic Internet functions in Europe's largest economy.

The legislation, which is set to enter its first round of debate in Germany's Parliament on Nov 29, would grant newspaper and other print publishers the right to prevent Google and its rivals from showing headlines and snippets of text from stories in search results unless the Internet companies paid royalties. Germany's newspaper industry, which includes powerful players such as media company Axel Springer AG, has pushed for the law, saying the search companies unfairly profit off the backs of news organizations and journalists. The copyright legislation would pave the way for publishers to get a share of the revenues that Google and others reap from ads next to news-search results. The concept is gaining ground in France and Italy, as well.