Neighboring Rights: New Complaint of Magazine Publishers against Google

The Union of the Magazine press seized the authority of competition. But the association of the general news press estimates that “the discussions advance”.

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It will be necessary to wait a little long before the ax of war being definitely buried between Google and the French publishers. For the third time since November 2019, the Magazine Press Publishers Union (MPP) filed a referral against the US giant before the Competition Authority. “The union, who tried to negotiate with the company during the last few months, could only see the reiteration by Google of non-compliance with the injunctions pronounced by the Authority,” regrets the professional organization representing the point. , Chained or telerama duck, in a statement released on Monday, January 10th.

The long sheet of discussions between the French press and Google lasts since the transposition in 2019 by France of the European Copyright Directive, which created the neighboring law. This gives the media the possibility of obtaining a remuneration for the recovery of extracts from their contents in the search engine.

After months of unsuccessful exchanges, some professional organizations, including the SEPM and The Alliance of the General Information Press (APIG, which represents national or regional daily newspapers and the regional weekly press) had filed a complaint with the Competition Authority. According to them, Google did not negotiate in good faith. At the end of 2020, the media – Le Figaro, Le Monde, Liberation, Express, International Courier, Obs – Then, in January 2021, the APIG, however, found agreements with the search engine.

But in July, the Competition Authority had finally proven right to the complainants and imposed a fine of 500 million euros in Google – who has since appealed. According to the decision, the US company would not have had to mix, in broad agreements, the remuneration of neighboring rights and the use of whole press articles provided for in a new service of its search engine, baptized Showcase.

Towards chords with other platforms

With this decision, the MPP requested in September the resumption of negotiations. But the discussions have so far succeeded, including the amount provided for in the separate assessment of neighboring rights. In addition, Google has been wishing to limit its agreements to “press companies”, a status that do not have all the media.

On the side of the APIG, the publishers have reopened in September the negotiations with Google to amend the framework agreement signed in January 2021. But the association estimates, it, that “the discussions are advancing”. “It is thought to be able to reach an agreement in the coming weeks,” says the APIG.

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/Media reports.