France Orders Google To Pay For News
By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – France’s competition regulator has ordered online search giant Google to pay French publishing companies and news agencies for re-using their content under Europe’s new digital copyright legislation.
The ‘Autorite de la Concurrence’ requires “Google, within three months, to conduct negotiations in good faith with publishers and news agencies on the remuneration for the re-use of their protected contents.”
The agency noted that “Google’s practices caused serious and immediate harm to the press sector.” It added that Google violated the law while “the economic situation of publishers and news agencies is otherwise fragile.”
U.S.-based Google said it would comply with the French competition authority verdict, following complaints by unions representing French press publishers. “Since the European copyright law came into force in France last year, we have been engaging with publishers to increase our support and investment in news,” said Richard Gingras, vice president of News at Google.
The ruling is also significant for independent publishers who have struggled to make money with their re-used news. Some have complained about what they view as Google’s political bias in displaying search results and its influence over advertising revenues.
Google claims results are based on its secretive algorithm system, but critics have expressed doubts and demand more transparency.
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