Spain has passed a law requiring news aggregators such as Google News to pay publishers a fee if they link to their content. Supporters of the law, nicknamed the ''Google Fee'', say it will prevent copyright infringements. But opponents argue that it limits freedom of expression.

Spain was where the "right to be forgotten" began, with the European Commission recently ruling that individuals can demand Google remove unfavourable links about them from search results. Now a new copyright law is stirring controversy in the country.

The new Spanish law has been nicknamed the "Google Fee". Credit:Reuters

Aggregators that don't compensate publishers for using their content could be fined €30,000 to €300,000 ($43,000 to $430,000). Spanish websites risk being blocked if they do not comply with the law, passed last week, even if they are hosted in other countries.

In their blog, the local news aggregation site Meneame said that although it makes money by linking to news stories published by others, it's not enough to cover the fees required under the law. The publishers, meanwhile, make much more from their relationship, the site said. ''Every unique visit derived from Meneame drives revenue for the linked news site that is almost 20 times more than the revenue perceived by Meneame,'' it says.