Any notion that the debate over whether Google (NSDQ: GOOG) is a friend, enemy or frenemy to online content producers is mellowing was put to rest at today’s Oxford Media Convention. 

The National Union of Journalists called for a tax on content aggregators, while Google itself made the case for a loosening of UK IP law to allow freer use of copyrighted material. Google UK’s public policy manager, Richard Sargeant, told the convention that the UK’s fair dealing law, which allows limited re-publishing of news content along with attribution, should be brought in line with US fair use law. He says (via Guardian.co.uk): “Europe doesn’t have anything similar [to the US], which makes it much more difficult for people to see what they can and can’t do.” Such a change was recommended in the 2006 Gowers Review of IP regulations and its implementation here could lead to Google News legally publishing excerpts of news stories instead of just a link and the the first line for each one. More after the jump…