Google Warns Germans About Proposed Copyright Law

Legislation would allow publishers to charge search engines for linking to their content

Google on Tuesday launched a public campaign in an attempt to stop the German parliament passing legislation that would allow the country's publishers to charge internet search engines for displaying links to newspaper articles on services like Google News.

Called "Protect your web – find what you're looking for", the web-based campaign warns Google users that the so-called ancillary copyright legislation could end their easy access to information on the web; a search function also shows publicly available telephone numbers and email addresses for their local lawmakers.