Google is shutting down its Google News service in Spain ahead of the introduction of a new intellectual property law is introduced.
Google News, the online search giant’s product that provides a stream of top articles from various journalism outlets, will close on Dec. 16 before the law takes effect in January.
Spain’s new law, nicknamed the “Google Tax,” would require publishers to charge Google to show their content on its news site.
The law allows publishers to claim up to €600,000 (£475,000) to websites for link to pirated material.
Google has argued against the ruling, saying that it makes no money from its search-based service.
“It’s with real sadness that on 16 December we’ll remove Spanish publishers from Google News, and close Google News in Spain,” said Richard Gingras, head of Google News in a blog post on Wednesday.
He went on to add that the law which would allow Spanish publishers to charge Google “for showing even the smallest snippet from their publications” was not sustainable.
“Google News itself makes no money (we do not show any advertising on the site),” he said.
After Germany revised copyright laws last year in a way that could have required Google News to make royalty payments, Google required publishers to give consent for summarizing content and most did.
Read the full blog post here