Media News - Monday, June 22, 2009

UK: Newspaper Licensing Agency to regulate web hyperlinks

The Newspaper Licensing Agency has announced it is to begin regulating its customers' use of hyperlinks to newspaper articles on the web. The agency, which controls reproduction of newspaper clippings by news monitoring services and public relations agencies, will introduce an extension to its licences later this year. According to a circular sent to members of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, and seen by Press Gazette, the NLA will be introducing a new form of licence from 1 September to regulate "web aggregator services (such as Meltwater) that forward links to newspaper websites and for press cuttings agencies undertaking this type of activity". From January 2010, the licence charges will also apply to PR practitioners and "other organisations forwarding links to newspaper websites as part of their commercial activity". The CIPR states that this will apply to "almost all newspaper websites excluding News International titles and the Financial Times". NLA managing director David Pugh said that the licence was intended to apply only to organisations circulating hyperlinks to newspaper articles commercially as part of a business model. There is no attempt to regulate use of hyperlinks where that is not as part of a chargeable service, such as by private individuals or as the results of queries by internet search engines such as Google News. (Press Gazette)

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