The French Competition Authority today imposed a fine of 250 million euros on Google and its parent company Alphabet in a dispute that the digital giant had with publishers and press agencies in France over their remuneration for using their content on the Internet. Google, for its part, described the fine as “disproportionate.”
The Competition gendarme decided to fine Google upon finding that the technology giant had failed to comply with the commitments it made in June 2022. Specifically, it accuses it of not having respected four of the seven points to which it had committed two years ago.
First of all, the Competition Authority accuses Google of not having negotiated “in good faith” with the French publishers “on the basis of transparent, objective and non-discriminatory criteria within a period of three months”, as had been stated. committed to doing.
Google has also not transmitted to the publishers or press agency “the information necessary for a transparent evaluation of their remuneration for related rights” nor has it taken “the necessary measures so that the negotiations do not affect the economic relations that Google has with these publishers.” or with the French press agencies, according to the Competition Authority.
Regarding the artificial intelligence service “Bard”, launched by Google in 2023 and now called Gemini, the French regulatory body found that it had used the content of publishers and press agencies “for training purposes” without warning the media or the Competition Authority itself of this.
Furthermore, according to the regulatory body, Google has not proposed a technical solution so that the media can oppose the use of their content by Bard (opt-out) “without affecting the display of content protected by related rights on other Google services.” » and thus affecting the ability of editors and press agencies to negotiate remuneration.
The American giant considered the fine “disproportionate” with respect to the breaches detected by the Competition Authority of some of its commitments assumed in June 2022 on related rights. The company considers that the “efforts” they have made have not been sufficiently taken into account and complains about the absence of clear regulatory measures.
Google recalled that it is the first and only platform to have signed significant licensing agreements for related rights with 280 French press publishers – covering more than 450 publications – and to have disbursed several tens of millions of euros per year.
“We have compromised because it is time to turn the page, as proven by the numerous agreements with publishers,” Google explained in a statement, which showed its desire to “connect Internet users with quality content” and to “work constructively with French editors.
In July 2019, France transposed into its national law the directive on copyright and related rights of the European Union, which aims to implement the conditions for balanced negotiation between publishers, press agencies and digital platforms. Related rights allow newspapers, magazines or press agencies to be remunerated when their content is reused in search engines.
The objective of this legislative framework was to redefine, in favor of the press, the distribution of remuneration for its content and thus respond to “the profound changes” that the press sector has been experiencing for several years, in particular “by the increase in digital audiences, the decrease in paper dissemination and the capture of a significant part of advertising by large digital platforms,” the Competition gendarme recalled in a statement.
In July 2021, the Competition Authority had already ordered Google to pay a fine of 500 million euros for not having negotiated “in good faith” with French press publishers.
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