Despite the intervention of the competition authority, online platforms and press publishers are struggling to agree on the remuneration of press content online
A case that started in 2019: France was one of the first countries in the EU to implement the revised European Copyright Directive of 2019, which introduced a neighbouring right for press publishers so that they can forbid online platforms from reusing their content, and which gave them power to negotiate adequate compensation. In November 2019, French publishers lodged a complaint against Google’s conduct with the national competition authority, the AdC, since Google unilaterally decided that it would not display article extracts on its various services (such as search and news), unless the publishers granted permission free of charge. In April 2020, the AdC imposed an interim obligation on Google to negotiate ‘in good faith’ while it reached a decision on the merits of the case.
More than a year on, and Google has not satisfied all the AdC’s requirements: The interim measures initially seemed to work in favour of publishers, since Google and an association of French publishers (APIG) announced an agreement in January 2021 for an undisclosed figure. However, on Tuesday the AdC imposed a €500m fine on Google for disregarding several elements of the interim measures. Despite being repeatedly asked to negotiate with publishers on current uses of protected content, Google focused its discussions on a global partnership called Showcase devoted mainly to the offer of new services, and in which current uses are only an ancillary component. The company also excluded press editors who do not have a Political and General Information certification (IPG), thereby excluding the content from which it derives the greater part of its income. The competition authority has now asked Google to present an offer for the remuneration of publishers who contacted the AdC. Google will face additional penalties of up to €900k per day if it fails to do so within two months.
The remuneration of press publishers online has been a thorny issue for some time now: In Australia, the implementation of the News Media Bargaining Code in February this year was met with vehement resistance from Google and even more so from Facebook, which went as far as stopping users from sharing news content for several days before an agreement was reached. At the time, Facebook’s response upset some policymakers in several countries (Canada, UK, US) who saw the company’s behaviour as further evidence of the need for regulation to protect press publishers.
