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Rabat – US tech giant Google has filed an appeal against the €500 million fine the French Competition Authority imposed on it for not agreeing to compensate local publishers for news content, US tech newspaper Techcrunch reported today, September 1.
The financial penalty came amid increasing international pressure on online platforms like Google and Instagram to share the earnings they make from the use of content from media outlets.
The dispute centers around allegations that Google has used content in its search results without adequate compensation, despite the seismic shift in global advertising revenues towards the search giant over the past two decades.
In April last year, the French Competition Authority ordered Google to negotiate “in good faith” with media groups after it refused to comply with a 2019 European Union law governing digital copyright.
The “neighboring rights” aim to ensure that news publishers are compensated when their work is shown on websites, search engines and social media platforms.
Last September, French news publishers including Agence France-Presse (AFP) filed a complaint with regulators, saying Google was refusing to move forward with paying to display content in web searches.
“We disagree with a number of legal elements, and believe that the fine is disproportionate to our efforts to reach an agreement and comply with the new law,” noted Sebastien Missoffe, the head of Google France.
“We continue to work hard to resolve this case and put deals in place. This includes expanding offers to 1,200 publishers, clarifying aspects of our contracts, and sharing more data as requested by the French Competition Authority,” he further added.
The Competition Authority mentioned that the appeal would not delay the fine, which the tech giant was obliged to pay. The time-frame of the appeal is not specified.
The French antitrust body’s July decision ruled that Google had two months to produce a detailed proposal about how it would compensate news agencies and publishers for the use of their content. If Google fails to comply, it may face fines of up to €900,000 a day.
As a result of a copyright directive adopted by the EU in 2019, publishers are now allowed to charge for news “snippets” displayed on search results. A dispute between tech companies and publishers resulted in Facebook temporarily removing news from its Australia platform in February. As a result of an agreement with the Australian government, Facebook reversed its decision after a few days.
Last year, Google announced it would launch its News Showcase service – an online feature showcasing stories from publishers – and award $1 billion to publishers over the next three years for their content.
