Bill Text


Bill PDF |Add To My Favorites |Track Bill | print page

AB-886 California Journalism Preservation Act.(2023-2024)

SHARE THIS: share this bill in Facebook share this bill in Twitter
Date Published: 06/27/2024 09:00 PM
AB886:v93#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Senate  June 27, 2024
Amended  IN  Senate  June 10, 2024
Amended  IN  Senate  July 03, 2023
Amended  IN  Assembly  May 30, 2023
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 27, 2023
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 23, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 886

Introduced by Assembly Member Wicks
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Lowenthal and Essayli)
(Coauthors: Senators McGuire and Skinner) McGuire, Skinner, and Stern)

February 14, 2023

An act to add Title 23 (commencing with Section 3273.80) to Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code, relating to civil law.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 886, as amended, Wicks. California Journalism Preservation Act.
Existing law generally regulates online platforms, including by requiring, on a semiannual basis and as specified, a social media company to submit to the Attorney General a terms of service report that includes, among other things, the current version of the terms of service of the social media platform.
This bill, the California Journalism Preservation Act, would require a covered platform, as defined, to either pay at least $____ annually to compensate digital journalism providers, as defined, for accessing the internet websites of the providers, providers for a California audience, where the money is annually adjusted, as specified, and annually distributed to digital journalism providers, as described, or to participate in a final arbitration process, as specified, and fully pay the arbitration award, as provided. The bill would require, commencing not later than March 1, 2025, a covered platform to compile and post on its internet website a list of digital journalism providers providers, as described, that the platform accessed for a California audience during the preceding 12 months. The bill would require a covered platform to provide the above-described list to any digital journalism provider upon request, as specified, and to establish a designated email address to which a request may be submitted.
This bill would prohibit a covered platform from retaliating against a digital journalism provider for asserting its rights under the act by refusing to access content or changing the ranking, identification, modification, branding, or placement of the content of the digital journalism provider on the covered platform. The bill would require a digital journalism provider to spend at least 70% of funds received pursuant to the act on news journalists and support staff employed by the digital journalism provider. The bill would require an eligible digital journalism provider with 5 or fewer employees, to spend at least 50% of funds received pursuant to these provisions on news journalists and support staff employed by the digital journalism provider.
This bill would require, no later than one year after the end of an arbitration proceeding or reaching a settlement in lieu of an arbitration proceeding, or receiving a payment, as specified, and each year thereafter, the digital journalism provider to compile a report containing, among other things, an attestation that the digital journalism provider has complied with the revenue sharing provisions described above. The bill would require a digital journalism provider to publish and distribute that report, as specified. By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize a digital journalism provider to seek and obtain injunctive relief to compel compliance, as specified, and would require court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees to be awarded to a prevailing provider. The bill would state that its provisions are severable.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 This act shall be known as the California Journalism Preservation Act.

SEC. 2.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) A free and diverse fourth estate was critical in the founding of our democracy and continues to be the lifeblood for a functional society.
(b) California has a compelling interest in protecting businesses that report and distribute news from unfair business practices and competition. Every day, journalism plays an essential role in California and in local communities, and the ability of local news organizations to continue to provide the public with critical information about their communities and enabling publishers to receive fair market value for their content that is used by others will preserve and ensure the sustainability of local and diverse news outlets.
(c) Communities without newspapers lose touch with government, business, education, and neighbors. They operate without journalists working to keep them informed, uncover truth, expose corruption, and share common goals and experiences.
(d) Over the past 10 years, newspaper advertising has decreased 66 percent, and newsroom staff have declined 44 percent.
(e) Ethnic media has long been a distinctive genre of journalism and communications, informing, engaging, and advocating on behalf of communities underserved by both the for-profit and not-for-profit general market media. It plays a unique role in upholding the fourth estate in our democracy by facilitating cross-racial and cross-ethnic communications to facilitate social integration, promote civic engagement, and address inequalities among all of the underserved communities.
(f) Given the important role of ethnic media, it is critical to advance state policy that ensures their publishers are justly compensated for the content they create and distribute. An excellent example is the historic preamble, “We Wish to Plead Our Own Cause,” a document penned by the African American journalist and abolitionist Samuel Cornish in 1827. It marked a significant milestone in the history of the Black press as it highlighted the urgent need for African Americans to have their own platform to voice their grievances, advocate for their rights, and challenge racial inequality. This call to action spurred the establishment of numerous Black-owned newspapers and publications, solidifying the role of the Black press as a powerful tool for empowerment and social change, and laid the groundwork in our country for other ethnic media to plead their own cause.
(g) Quality local journalism is key to sustaining civic society, strengthening communal ties, and providing information at a deeper level that national outlets cannot match.
(h) Seventy-three percent of United States adults surveyed said they have confidence in their local newspaper.

SEC. 3.

 Title 23 (commencing with Section 3273.80) is added to Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code, to read:

TITLE 23. Compensation for Journalism Usage

3273.80.
 For purposes of this title, the following definitions apply:
(a) “Access” means to acquire, to crawl, or to index content.
(b) “Advertising revenue” means revenue generated through the sale of digital advertising impressions that are served to customers in the state through an online platform, regardless of whether those impressions are served on internet websites or accessed through online or mobile applications.
(c) (1) “Covered platform” means an online platform that at any point during a 12-month period meets both of the following criteria:
(A) The online platform has at least 50,000,000 United States-based monthly active users or subscribers on the online platform.
(B) The online platform is owned or controlled by a person with either of the following:
(i) United States net annual sales or a market capitalization greater than five hundred fifty billion dollars ($550,000,000,000), adjusted annually for inflation on the basis of the Consumer Price Index published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.
(ii) At least 1,000,000,000 worldwide monthly active users on the online platform.
(2) “Covered platform” does not mean either of the following:
(A) An organization exempt from federal income taxation pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(B) A company where at least that earns fewer than 50 percent of its annual revenue, as calculated at the level of the ultimate corporate parent, is from the manufacturing and sales of company-branded devices and hardware to consumers. from its online platform, advertising, and search services.
(d) “Digital journalism provider” means a publisher or eligible broadcaster that discloses its ownership to the public.
(e) “Eligible broadcaster” means a person that meets all of the following criteria:
(1) The person holds or operates under a license issued by the Federal Communications Commission under Subchapter III (commencing with Section 301) of Chapter 5 of Title 47 of the United States Code. Code, and has held or operated under the license for the prior two years.
(2) The person engages professionals to create, edit, produce, and distribute original content concerning local, regional, national, or international matters of public interest through activities, including conducting interviews, observing current events, analyzing documents and other information, or fact checking through multiple firsthand or secondhand news sources.
(3) The person updates its content on at least a weekly basis.
(4) The person uses an editorial process for error correction and clarification, including a transparent process for reporting errors or complaints to the station.
(f) “News journalist” means a natural person who meets both of the following criteria:
(1) The person is employed for an average of at least 30 hours per week during a calendar quarter by the digital journalism provider.
(2) The person is responsible for gathering, developing, preparing, directing the recording of, producing, collecting, photographing, recording, writing, editing, reporting, designing, presenting, or publishing original news or information that concerns local, regional, national, or international matters of public interest.
(g) “Online platform” means an internet website, online or mobile application, digital assistant, or online service that does both of the following:
(1) Accesses news articles, works of journalism, or other content, or portions thereof, generated, created, produced, or owned by a digital journalism provider.
(2) Aggregates, displays, provides, distributes, or directs users to content described in paragraph (1).
(h) “Publisher” means a person that publishes a qualifying publication.
(i) “Qualified arbitrator” means an arbitration organization that has established arbitration rules and procedures for at least one year prior to the initiation of the arbitration.
(j) “Qualifying publication” means an internet website, online or mobile application, or other digital service that meets all of the following criteria:
(1) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other digital service does not primarily display, provide, distribute, or offer content generated, created, produced, or owned by an eligible broadcaster.
(2) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other digital service provides information to an audience in the state. state and has done so for the prior two years.
(3) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other digital service performs a public information function comparable to that traditionally served by newspapers and other periodical news publications.
(4) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other digital service engages professionals to create, edit, produce, and distribute original content or original content for which a valid license has been obtained concerning local, regional, national, or international matters of public interest through activities, including conducting interviews, observing current events, analyzing documents and other information, or fact checking through multiple firsthand or secondhand news sources.
(5) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other digital service updates its content on at least a weekly basis.
(6) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other digital service has an editorial process for error correction and clarification, including a transparent process for reporting errors or complaints to the publication.
(7) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other digital service meets any of the following criteria:
(A) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other digital service generated at least one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) in annual revenue from its editorial content in the previous calendar year.
(B) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other digital service had an International Standard Serial Number assigned to an affiliated periodical before January 1, 2025.
(C) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other digital service is owned or controlled by an organization exempt from federal income taxation pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(8) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other digital service has at least 25 percent of its editorial content consisting of information about topics of current local, regional, national, or international public interest.
(9) The internet website, online or mobile application, or other digital service is not controlled, or wholly or partially owned by, an entity that meets any of the following criteria:
(A) The entity is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power, as those terms are defined in Section 1801 of Title 50 of the United States Code.
(B) The entity is designated as a foreign terrorist organization pursuant to Section 1189 of Title 8 of the United States Code.
(C) The entity is a terrorist organization, as defined in Section 1182 of Title 8 of the United States Code.
(D) The entity is designated as a specially designated global terrorist organization under federal Executive Order 13224.
(E) The entity is an affiliate of an entity described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D).
(F) The entity that has been convicted of violating, or attempting to violate, Section 2331, 2332b, or 2339A of Title 18 of the United States Code.
(k) “Representative” means a labor organization designated as the exclusive bargaining representative of news journalists or support staff for the purposes of collective bargaining in accordance with applicable state or federal law.
(l) “Support staff” means a natural person who performs nonexecutive functions, including payroll, human resources, fundraising and grant support, advertising and sales, community events and partnerships, technical support, sanitation, and security.

3273.81.
 A covered platform shall do either of the following:
(a) Pay at least ____ dollars ($____) annually to compensate digital journalism providers for accessing the internet websites of the providers, providers for a California audience, where those amounts are annually adjusted for increases in the Consumer Price Index and annually distributed to digital journalism providers as follows:
(1) No less than 1 percent of this amount shall be paid to digital journalism providers that would receive less than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) pursuant to paragraph (2) to be distributed annually proportionally by the number of news journalists and, subject to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 3273.86, freelancers who, in the previous calendar year, were employed by each qualifying publication for the primary purpose of producing content for a California audience among those digital journalism providers, in addition to the amount those providers would receive pursuant to paragraph (2).
(2) Proportionally by the number of news journalists and, subject to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 3273.86, freelancers, who, in the previous calendar year, were employed by each qualifying publication for the primary purpose of producing content for a California audience.
(b) Participate in a final arbitration process under Section 3273.84 and fully pay the arbitration award, if any, to the administrator engaged pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 3273.82 within 30 days of the award, or to each participating digital journalism provider within 90 days of the award.

3273.82.
 (a) A covered platform shall make distributions pursuant to Section 3273.81 by doing either of the following:
(1) Engaging an approved claims administrator to administer the distributions. distribute the annual payments to digital journalism providers.
(A) In selecting an approved claims administrator the covered platform shall ensure that the administrator is well qualified to perform the distribution and has administered multiple settlements in the State of California that comply with complex civil litigation class action settlement guidelines in at least three state or federal courts in California.
(B) The cost of the claims administrator shall be in addition to the amount specified in Section 3273.81.
(2) Distributing the annual payments to digital journalism providers itself, the costs of which shall be in addition to the amount specified in Section 3273.81.
(b) An administrator distributing payments pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) or a covered platform distributing payments pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) shall do all of the following:
(1) Prepare an annual statement of account related to the distribution activities, certified by a certified public accountant.
(2) Identify a point of contact for digital journalism provider inquiries with timely redress.
(3) Establish policies to resolve disputes, guard against fraud and abuse, and ensure that any undistributable funds are reallocated among participating digital journalism providers after a reasonable holding period pursuant to Section 3273.81.
(4) Publish on its internet website and the covered platform’s internet website an annual report detailing nonconfidential operations of the fund, including the digital journalism providers that received compensation and the amount paid. If the covered platform has engaged a claims administrator to distribute the payments, the administrator shall provide the report to the covered platform and the covered platform shall also publish the report on its internet website.
(c) (1) On or before April 1, 2025, a covered platform shall identify a point of contact for email or other electronically communicated digital journalism provider inquiries.
(2) Digital (A) A digital journalism providers provider that want wishes to receive payments an annual payment pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 3273.81 shall submit notice to the point of contact by May 1, 2025.
(B) The notice shall include, at a minimum, the name of the digital journalism provider, the number of eligible journalists employed or claimed pursuant to Section 3273.86, and a contact person for the publication.
(C) The covered platform may institute reasonable measures to verify that the notice was sent by an actual representative of the publication.

(d)(1)A digital journalism provider who, after utilizing in good faith the dispute resolution process established pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (b), is aggrieved by the decision of the payment distributor may initiate an arbitration of the dispute by a qualified arbitrator.

(2)In an arbitration pursuant to paragraph (1), the payment distributor shall pay the cost of the qualified arbitrator.

(e)

(d) A covered platform distributing payments pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) shall retain a qualified auditor to examine relevant books and records with respect to the distributions as part of an annual audit.

(f)

(e) A final arbitration award under Section 3273.84 to a jointly participating group of digital journalism providers shall be distributed proportionally by the number of news journalists and, subject to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 3273.86, freelancers, who, in the previous calendar year, were employed by each participating provider for the primary purpose of producing content for a California audience.

(g)Any

(f) The amount of any compensation received by a digital journalism provider through a commercial agreement for access to content by the covered platform prior to commencement of arbitration or payment by a covered platform pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 3273.81 that was offset pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (g) of Section 3273.84 shall be deducted from its allocation accordingly.
(g) (1) A digital journalism provider that disagrees with the determination of their eligibility or the amount of compensation awarded may seek a review of the determination as follows:
(A) (i) If the covered platform has retained a claims administrator, the digital journalism provider shall seek redress through the dispute resolution process established pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (b).
(ii) If the digital journalism provider disagrees with the result of the dispute resolution process, the digital journalism provider may initiate an arbitration of the dispute by a qualified arbitrator.
(B) If the covered platform has not retained a claims administrator, the digital journalism provider may initiate an arbitration of the dispute by a qualified arbitrator.
(2) Any challenge pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be made within 10 days of receiving notice of the eligibility decision or compensation determination to be challenged.
(3) In an arbitration pursuant to paragraph (1), the claims administrator or covered platform, as applicable, shall pay the cost of the qualified arbitrator.
(h) A digital journalism provider shall not be denied compensation under this section on the basis that the provider publishes or broadcasts, in whole or in part, in a language other than English.

3273.83.
 (a) Commencing no later than March 1, 2025, a covered platform shall compile and post on its internet website a list of digital journalism providers that the platform accessed for a California audience during the preceding 12 months.
(b) A covered platform shall provide that list to any digital journalism provider upon request within three days after the request is submitted and shall establish a designated email address to which a request may be submitted.
(c) A digital journalism provider shall not be excluded from the list or the arbitration under Section 3273.84 on the basis that the provider publishes or broadcasts, in whole or in part, in a language other than English.

3273.84.
 (a) (1) In an arbitration initiated pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 3273.81, the arbitrator shall solely determine the percentage of the covered platform’s advertising revenue to be remitted to participating digital journalism providers on an annual basis pursuant to this section. Digital
(2) Digital journalism providers shall jointly participate in the a final offer arbitration process with a covered platform described in this section with each covered platform to determine a single percentage of the covered platform’s advertising revenue from which the distributions described in subdivision (f) (e) of Section 3273.82 will be allotted. Covered platforms shall not participate jointly in a final offer arbitration process.

(2)

(3) Within 30 days after a covered platform posts the list of digital journalism providers pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 3273.83, by a majority vote, participating digital journalism providers shall establish rules and procedures to govern decisionmaking regarding the arbitration proposal or any settlement reached pursuant to subdivision (c) and each eligible digital journalism provider shall be entitled to one vote on any matter submitted to a vote of the members.

(3)

(4) The covered platform or digital journalism providers may initiate a final offer arbitration with a qualified arbitrator for an arbitration panel to determine the percentage of the covered platform’s advertising revenue remitted to the participating digital journalism providers.
(b) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as preventing a digital journalism provider from being individually represented in the joint arbitration process in subdivision (a).
(c) Prior to the commencement of the final offer arbitration, there shall be 60 days of mediation between the covered platforms and digital journalism providers to reach a settlement. If no agreement is reached, the final offer arbitration shall commence 10 days after the conclusion of the mediation period. If an agreement is reached through mediation, the arbitrator may approve the agreement, in which case the group will not proceed to arbitration.
(d) The arbitration procedure authorized by this section shall be decided by a panel of three arbitrators affiliated with the qualified arbitrator under the rules of the arbitrator except to the extent they conflict with this section.
(e) The covered platform and the digital journalism providers shall each pay one-half of the cost of administering the arbitration proceeding, including arbitrator compensation, expenses, and administrative fees. The costs for the digital journalism providers shall be deducted from the amount awarded before the calculation in subdivision (f) (e) of Section 3273.82.
(f) During a final offer arbitration proceeding under this section, all of the following shall apply:
(1) (A) (i) Digital journalism providers and the covered platform may demand the production of business records that are relevant to the single percentage of a covered platform’s advertising revenue to be awarded to participating digital journalism providers and that are nonprivileged, reasonably necessary, and reasonably accessible without undue expense.
(ii) For A covered platform seeking the production of business records of a digital journalism providers provider that qualify qualifies for a distribution pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 3273.81, documents and information requested shall be limited to one request for documents and information and the covered platform requesting the information shall, within 10 days, reimburse the provider for the reasonable costs of production, including attorneys’ reasonable attorney’s fees.
(B) Documents and information described in subparagraph (A) shall be exchanged not later than 30 days after the date the demand is filed.
(2) Digital journalism providers and the covered platform shall each submit a final offer proposal for the remuneration that the digital journalism providers should receive receive, on an annual basis, from the covered platform for access to the internet websites or other digital services of the digital journalism providers during the period under arbitration for an audience in California based on the value that access provides to the platform. The final offer proposals shall include backup materials sufficient to permit the other party to replicate the proffered valuation.
(3) A final offer proposal pursuant to this section shall not address whether or how the covered platform or any digital journalism provider displays, ranks, distributes, suppresses, promotes, throttles, labels, filters, or curates the content of the digital journalism providers or any other person.
(g) (1) Not later than 60 days after the date arbitration proceedings begin pursuant to subdivision (c), the arbitration panel shall determine the percentage of the covered platform’s advertising revenue to be remitted by the covered platform to the participating digital journalism providers from a final offer from one of the parties without modification. which of the parties’ final offer proposals to accept pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (f). The arbitration panel shall accept one of the two offers without modification.
(2) In making a determination pursuant to paragraph (1), the arbitration panel shall do all of the following:
(A) Refrain from considering any value conferred upon any digital journalism provider by the covered platform for distributing or aggregating its content content, other than monetary compensation agreed to by the digital journalism provider in a written commercial agreement with the platform, as an offset to the value created by that digital journalism provider, unless the covered platform does not automatically access and extract information from a digital journalism provider’s internet website.
(B) Consider past incremental revenue contributions as a guide to the future incremental revenue contribution by any digital journalism provider.
(C) Consider the pricing, terms, and conditions of any available, comparable commercial agreements between parties granting access to digital content, including pricing, terms, and conditions relating to price, duration, territory, and the value of data generated directly or indirectly by the content accounting for any material disparities in negotiating power between the parties to those commercial agreements.
(D) If submitted with a final offer proposal, consider the digital journalism provider’s previous compliance with Section 3273.86, if applicable.
(E) Issue a standard binding arbitration award of the percentage of the covered platform’s advertising revenue remitted to participating digital journalism providers.
(3) Within 15 days of accepting a final offer proposal, the arbitration panel shall issue an order setting forth the final amount that the covered platform pay on an annual basis pursuant to Section 6273.81. The order shall do all of the following:
(A) Set forth the amount of the final offer accepted by the arbitration panel.
(B) Require the covered platform to pay the final offer amount on an annual basis.
(C) (i) If applicable, authorize the covered platform to reduce the total payment by the total amount of all commercial agreements the covered platform has with any participating digital journalism provider that participated in the arbitration for the covered period.
(ii) To receive an offset under this subparagraph, the covered platform shall provide to the arbitration panel copies of all of the commercial agreements for which it seeks an offset.
(iii) The platform may offset its annual payment for a payment made pursuant to a commercial agreement only by the amount actually paid under that agreement each year.
(D) The date of the order.

(3)

(4) Any party to the arbitration proceeding may elect to appeal the decision of the arbitration panel pursuant to Section 3273.88 on the grounds of a procedural irregularity. any ground permitted under subsection (a) of Section 10 of Title 9 of the United States Code.
(h) If the covered platform and digital journalism providers reach a settlement in lieu of arbitration, the settlement shall not waive the digital journalism provider’s obligations pursuant to Section 3273.86.
(i) No less than 1 percent of each arbitration award shall be paid to digital journalism providers that would receive less than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), to be distributed annually proportionally by the number of news journalists and, subject to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 3273.86, freelancers who, in the previous calendar year, were employed by each qualifying publication for the primary purpose of producing content for a California audience among those digital journalism providers, in addition to the amount those providers would receive pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (g).
(j) No fewer than 24 months after the end of an arbitration proceeding, any (1) Any party to the proceeding may elect to reinitiate the arbitration process. process on a date no fewer than 24 months from the date of the order in paragraph (3) of subdivision (g).
(2) The order shall remain in effect until the issuance of a superseding order.

3273.85.
 (a) A covered platform shall not retaliate against a digital journalism provider for asserting its rights under this title by refusing to access content or changing the ranking, identification, modification, branding, or placement of the content of the digital journalism provider on the covered platform.
(b) A digital journalism provider that is retaliated against may bring a civil action against the covered platform.
(c) This section does not prohibit a covered platform from, and does not impose liability on a covered platform for, enforcing its terms of service against a journalism provider.

3273.86.
 (a) (1)  Except as provided in paragraph (2), a digital journalism provider shall spend at least 70 percent of funds received pursuant to this title on news journalists and support staff employed by the digital journalism provider.
(2) (A) A digital journalism provider with five or fewer employees shall spend at least 50 percent of funds received pursuant to this title on news journalists and support staff employed by the digital journalism provider.
(B) For the purpose of calculating an allocation from a covered platform pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 3273.81 and subdivision (f) (e) of Section 3273.82, or for establishing a digital journalism provider’s minimum allocation to news journalists and support staff pursuant to this section, a digital journalism provider with five or fewer employees may elect to count dollars spent on the equivalent functions performed by news journalists as follows:
(i) The digital journalism provider shall employ at least one news journalist for the primary purpose of producing content for a California audience.
(ii) Each forty thousand dollars ($40,000) spent by a digital journalism provider in the previous calendar year to compensate other natural persons performing the functions defined by paragraph (2) of subdivision (f) of Section 3273.80 may claim to employ the equivalent of one news journalist, up to a maximum of one hundred sixty thousand dollars ($160,000) or the equivalent of four news journalists, with those amounts subsequently annually adjusted for increases in the Consumer Price Index. In no instance may the total number of news journalists and their equivalents claimed pursuant to this clause exceed the number of natural persons compensated by the digital journalism provider.
(b) No later than 30 days after the end of an arbitration proceeding described in Section 3273.84, reaching a settlement in lieu of an arbitration proceeding, or receiving a payment pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 3273.81, the digital journalism provider shall provide notification in writing of its plan to comply with subdivision (a) to the news journalists and support staff employed by the digital journalism provider and any representatives of those news journalists or support staff.
(c) The digital journalism provider’s plan to comply with subdivision (a) shall include a good faith estimate of the number of news journalists and support staff, respectively, if any, expected to be hired, details regarding proposed compensation adjustments, if any, and a disclosure if either hiring or compensation adjustments are not expected.

3273.87.
 (a) No later than one year after the end of an arbitration proceeding described in Section 3273.84, or reaching a settlement in lieu of an arbitration proceeding, or receiving a payment pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 3273.81, and each year thereafter, the digital journalism provider shall compile a report that includes all of the following:
(1) An attestation as to whether the digital journalism provider has complied with subdivision (a) of Section 3273.86.
(2) The text of the digital journalism provider’s plan to comply with subdivision (a) of Section 3273.86.
(3) The total number of payments under this title received from covered platforms.
(4) The name of each covered platform paying the digital journalism provider a payment under this title and a description of how the digital journalism provider spent the payment, including any amount of payments under this title remaining unspent.
(5) The total number of news journalists and support staff respectively staff, respectively, employed by the digital journalism provider, including the number of news journalists and support staff hired or terminated respectively terminated, respectively, during the previous year.
(b) No later than one year after the end of an arbitration proceeding described in Section 3273.84 or reaching a settlement in lieu of an arbitration proceeding, or receiving a payment pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 3273.81, and each year thereafter, the digital journalism provider shall publish a copy of the report described in subdivision (a) online in a text-searchable format and provide a copy to the news journalists and support staff employed by the digital journalism provider, any representatives of those news journalists or support staff, and the covered platforms making payments under this title to the digital journalism provider.
(c) If a digital journalism provider fails to comply with this section, a covered platform may withhold payments under this title until the digital journalism provider has provided a copy of the report to the covered platform and has published a copy of the report online pursuant to subdivision (b).

3273.88.
 (a) Nothing in this title shall be construed as amending or repealing the ability of a digital journalism provider or a covered platform to avail themselves of Section 526 of the Code of Civil Procedure or any other existing remedy at law.
(b) A digital journalism provider may seek and obtain injunctive relief to compel compliance with this section, title, and court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees shall be awarded to a prevailing provider.

3273.89.
 (a) This title does not modify, impair, expand, or in any way alter rights pertaining to Title 17 of the United States Code or the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.).
(b) This title does not abridge or impair rights otherwise reserved by news journalists, support staff, or their representatives according to applicable law or existing collective bargaining agreements.

SEC. 4.

 The provisions of this act are severable. If any provision of this act or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.

SEC. 5.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.