The Swiss government has taken a stance similar to the European Union by advocating for compensation to media companies when their articles are featured on search

engines, social media platforms, and multimedia sites, including Google, Facebook, and Twitter.

The government stated on Wednesday that if a prominent search engine displays excerpts from newspaper articles in its search results, the online service should be required to pay a fee for this in the future.

Last year, Google agreed to pay more than 300 publishers in Germany, France, and four other EU countries for using their news content, following the implementation of groundbreaking EU copyright regulations.

Under the Swiss government's recommendation, payment obligations would be applicable to online companies with an average annual user base equivalent to 10% of the Swiss population, amounting to just under 900,000 users.

After a consultation period that will run until September 15, Parliament will vote on an amendment to the copyright act.

A proposed collection agency, representing media groups and journalists, would be responsible for negotiating and collecting the fees.

"The exact increase in revenue for media companies and professionals cannot be determined at this stage, as it depends on the negotiations between the collection societies and the user associations," stated the government.

According to a study conducted by the German-language publishers' association Schweizer Medien earlier this year, Google would theoretically have to pay Swiss publishers at least CHF 154 million ($166 million) per year. Photo by brionv, Wikimedia commons.