HIGHLIGHTS
*Google may shut down its Google News service in the European Union
*According to the new directive, tech giants must pay for work of artists
*This is not the first time has been made to charge Google for links
Google may shut down its Google News service in the European Union (EU) if a proposed "link tax" for using news stories comes into force in member countries, The Guardian reported.
According to the new copyright directive, adopted by the European Parliament on September 12, tech giants must pay for work of artists and journalists which they use.
To put the rule changes into effect, individual member countries would have to draft local laws.
Google is deeply concerned about the current proposals, which are designed to compensate struggling news publishers if snippets of their articles appear in search results, Richard Gingras, the search engine's Vice President of News told the Guardian.
The future of Google News could depend on whether the EU was willing to alter the phrasing of the legislation, he said.