The CRTC has released the mandatory bargaining framework that will apply when major online platforms and eligible Canadian news organizations negotiate agreements under the Online News Act.
The Act sets out a mandatory bargaining process that stipulates that if the two sides cannot come to an agreement during a 90-day bargaining period and 120-day mediation period, a final 45-day arbitration period would follow where a panel of independent arbitrators will select the final offer made by one of the parties. The commission will serve in an oversight role to ensure parties participate in good faith.
To allow enough time to select an arbitration panel, when necessary, the commission has set the 100-day mark of the mediation period as the deadline for an arbitration panel to be agreed upon by parties. If parties fail to agree on the panel by that deadline, the CRTC will appoint the panel in the remaining 20 days of the mediation period.
The commission has also clarified expectations around data collection, stating that to avoid unnecessary administrative burden on news businesses, it will generally only collect detailed information from those participating under the framework of the Act, mirroring what is found in annual broadcasting returns to streamline reporting requirements. That includes newsroom expenditures like salaries, management, and cost of journalists and other employees engaged in the production of news; programming and/or production expenses related to producing news, such as freelancer payments or wire service subscriptions; technical expenditures like website hosting or studio equipment; sales and promotion expenses related to ad sales and subscriptions; and other overhead like licensing fees and cost of premises.
The commission will also collect information directly from online platforms regarding the number of agreements signed, their monetary value, and the names of news businesses covered by those agreements. An independent auditor will use that data to assess the Act’s impact on the Canadian media landscape and prepare an annual report.
