Online News Act Application and Exemption Regulations

The Online News Act Application and Exemption Regulations were made by Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Canadian Heritage. The Regulations under section 84 of the Online News Act regulate various aspects of the application of the Act.

The Regulations define "Act" as the Online News Act and outline conditions for making an exemption order. An operator must carry out an open call process with news businesses to determine if they wish to obtain compensation from the operator. The operator must provide information relevant to the making of the exemption order, including a list of news businesses that responded to the notice.

The Commission must interpret agreements as providing for fair compensation if they provide comparable compensation to news businesses of a similar size and capabilities. Agreements also must include a commitment to use a majority of monetary compensation to support the production of local, regional, and national news content.

In addition, the Commission must consider the impact of agreements on only certain news businesses and news outlets when interpreting criteria set out in subsection 11(1)(a) of the Act. The Regulations also outline an exception for the largest search engine, requiring monetary compensation to be provided in accordance with a specific formula.

Overall, these regulations aim to regulate the application of the Online News Act and ensure fair compensation for news businesses and outlets affected by digital news intermediaries.