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2.5 Bargaining Process (Clauses 18 to 45)
The bargaining process for an agreement between an operator of a digital news intermediary and eligible news businesses involves several steps. The parties to the bargaining process are required to participate in good faith (clause 22). If the parties do not reach an agreement, any one of them may initiate final‑offer arbitration (clause 19(1)(c)).

2.5.1 Copyright (Clauses 23 to 26)
Clause 23 of the bill provides that news businesses may bargain only in relation to news content for which they own the copyright and for which they are authorized to bargain.

Clause 25 stipulates that the bargaining process may not be used if an operator has previously made payments for the use of news content in accordance with the relevant tariff approved by the Copyright Board or any other licence or agreement reached outside the process.

Where an agreement between the parties exists, an operator is not liable for copyright infringement respecting content made available as provided by that agreement (clause 26(1)). However, operators are not absolved of their liabilities for copyright infringement outside the scope of such an agreement (clause 26(2)).

2.5.2 Eligibility (Clauses 27 to 31)
Clause 27(1) provides that the CRTC designates a news business as eligible to enter into agreements with operators of digital news intermediaries if the news business meets the definition of “qualified Canadian journalism organization” set out in section 248(1) of the Income Tax Act6 (clause 27(1)(a)). The news business must employ at least two journalists and operate in Canada (clause 27(1)(b)). The CRTC must maintain a list of eligible news businesses and publish it on its website (clause 29(1)).

2.5.3 Agreements (Clause 32)
A group of eligible news businesses that reaches an agreement with an operator of digital news intermediaries must file a copy of the agreement with the CRTC. Eligible news businesses can join this group after the agreement is reached (clause 32(2)).

2.5.4 Final Offer Arbitration (Clauses 33 to 44)
Final offer arbitration encourages the parties to reach an agreement. The parties choose arbitrators from a roster maintained by the CRTC (clause 34(1)). The CRTC takes the preferences of the parties into account in appointing an arbitrator, but it reserves the right to reject an arbitrator if it is of the opinion that an arbitrator selected by the parties has a conflict of interest (clauses 34(2) and 35(1), respectively).

In deciding to select the final offer of one of the parties, the arbitrators take the following factors into account:

the value added, monetary and otherwise, to the news content in question by each party, as assessed in terms of their investments, expenditures and other actions in relation to that content (clause 38(a)); and
the benefits, monetary and otherwise, that each party receives from the content being made available by the digital news intermediary in question (clause 38(b)).
The arbitrators can dismiss a final offer if it is not in the public interest or is inconsistent with the purpose of enhancing fairness in the Canadian digital news marketplace (clause 39(1)).