Denmark's strategy to front run Europe on Big Tech deals
Fri Jan 16 2026
Denmark may be famous for Lego, Ozempic, and a Bluetooth named after a Viking king — but its next export could be a new model for media power in the AI era. It’s rallied 99 per cent of the country’s publishers and broadcasters into a collective licensing body designed to negotiate with Big Tech, and the result is already looking less like Scandinavian hygge and more like a Viking bloodbath.
At the centre is Karen Rønde - a judge, former MP, journalist and ex-Netflix policy lead - now running the DPCMO, Denmark’s collective spearhead for publisher rights. Google has signed up but is stalling on price, Apple's been reported to the cops, Meta and TikTok face enormous fines, and OpenAI and LinkedIn are headed for court. Karen joins Chris Duncan and me to explain what Denmark is building - and why the chaos is part of the strategy.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Denmark may be famous for Lego, Ozempic, and a Bluetooth named after a Viking king — but its next export could be a new model for media power in the AI era. It’s rallied 99 per cent of the country’s publishers and broadcasters into a collective licensing body designed to negotiate with Big Tech, and the result is already looking less like Scandinavian hygge and more like a Viking bloodbath. At the centre is Karen Rønde - a judge, former MP, journalist and ex-Netflix policy lead - now running the DPCMO, Denmark’s collective spearhead for publisher rights. Google has signed up but is stalling on price, Apple's been reported to the cops, Meta and TikTok face enormous fines, and OpenAI and LinkedIn are headed for court. Karen joins Chris Duncan and me to explain what Denmark is building - and why the chaos is part of the strategy. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.