Advertisement

France fines Google €500 million in news copyright row

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
France fines Google €500 million in news copyright row
(FILES) In this file photo taken on February 17, 2019 This illustration picture shows the Google logo displayed on a tablet in Paris. - France’s competition authority (Autorite de la Concurrence) has fined Google 500 million euros, on July 13, 2021, for failing to negotiate "in good faith" with press publishers on the application of the so-called "neighbouring rights", the remuneration due to publishers for the reproduction of their content. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP)

France's competition regulator slapped Google with a €500 million fine on Tuesday for failing to negotiate "in good faith" with media companies over the use of their content under EU copyright rules.

Advertisement

It is "the biggest ever fine" imposed by the Competition Authority for a company's failure to adhere to one of its rulings, the agency's chief Isabelle De Silva told reporters.

In a ruling published on its website, the Competition Authority also ordered the US internet giant to present media publishers with "an offer of renumeration for the current use of their copyrighted content", or risk paying additional damages of up to €900,000 a day.

A Google spokesperson said in a statement to AFP that the company was "very disappointed" by the decision.

"We have acted in good faith during the entire negotiation period. This fine does not reflect the efforts put in place, nor the reality of the use of news content on our platform," the company insisted.

"This decision is mainly about negotiations that took place between May and September 2020. Since then, we have continued to work with publishers and news agencies to find common ground."

READ ALSO Why French media sites are in a battle with Google

Advertisement

The long-running legal battle has centred on claims that Google has been showing articles, pictures and videos produced by media groups when displaying search results without adequate compensation, despite the seismic shift of advertising revenue online.

In April 2020, the French competition authority ordered Google to negotiate "in good faith" with media groups after it refused to comply with a new EU law governing digital copyright.

The so-called "neighbouring rights" aim to ensure that news publishers are compensated when their work is shown on websites, search engines and social media platforms.

But last September, news publishers including Agence France-Presse (AFP) filed a complaint with regulators, saying Google was refusing to move forward on paying to display content in web searches.

In particular, the Competition Authority rebuked Google for having failed to "have a specific discussion" with media companies about neighbouring rights while negotiating over the launch of its Google Showcase news service, which launched late last year.

News outlets struggling with dwindling print subscriptions have long seethed at Google's refusal to give them a cut of the millions of euros it makes from ads displayed alongside news search results.

The search giant counters that it encourages millions of people to click through to media sites, and it has also invested heavily in supporting media groups in other ways, including emergency funding during the Covid-19 crisis.

Google announced in November that it had signed "some individual agreements" on copyright payments with French newspapers and magazines, including top dailies Le Monde and Le Figaro.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also