London Stock Exchange says Reuters paywall violates deal terms

A rift between the London Stock Exchange Group and Reuters has opened up over the media company’s plans for a new paywall, which the exchange claims is in breach of a 30-year agreement in the sale of its news to data provider Refinitiv, reports Lucy McNulty of MarketWatch.com.

McNulty reports, “The letter requests ‘a prompt meeting to facilitate a resolution’ to the matter, and adds that Refinitiv has the right to take actions permitted under the terms of its news agreement with Reuters. A description of the agreement in a 2019 circular to LSEG shareholders states that either party ‘can bring an action (including a claim for specific performance or injunctive relief) in the New York courts’ if any disputes arising from the agreement cannot be resolved amicably.

“Reuters in April unveiled a redesigned website, in a bid to attract a professional audience for its business, financial and general news, as part of a wider strategy to boost revenue from its digital news readership. It billed the change as ‘the largest digital transformation at Reuters in a decade.’

“After registration and a free preview period, a subscription to Reuters.com will cost $34.99 a month, the same as Bloomberg’s digital subscription. The offering, available as monthly or annual and individual or group packages, will also include live streams of Reuters events for subscribers and subscriber-only newsletter, the news agency said.”

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