Google and other online platforms allegedly profit billions from news without revenue sharing/ Photo: AA
French regulators have said they are fining Google €250M ($272M) for breaching an agreement on terms for paying media companies for reproducing their content online.
In a statement, the French competition authority said the fine was for "failing to respect commitments made in 2022" and accused the company of failing to negotiate in "good faith" with news publishers over how much to compensate them for the use of their content.
Google and other online platforms have been accused of making billions from news without sharing the revenue with those who gather it.
To tackle this, the EU created a form of copyright called "neighbouring rights" that allows print media to demand compensation for using their content.
France's stance on its data policy
France has been a test case for the rules and after initial resistance, both Google and Facebook agreed to pay some French media for articles shown in web searches. In 2022, French regulators accepted commitments from Google to negotiate fairly with news organisations.
Under the agreement, the US tech giant has to provide newsgroups with a transparent offer of payment within three months of receiving a copyright complaint.
Google had fought hard against the idea of paying for content and was fined 500 million euros ($530 million) in 2021 for failing to negotiate in good faith.
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