France’s regulator fines huge amount to Google for failing to negotiate “in good faith” with media companies. The fine of a 500-million-euro is charged over the use of their content under EU copyright rules.

The agency’s chief Isabelle De Silva informs reporters said “the biggest ever fine” id imposed by the Competition Authority for a company’s failure to adhere to one of its rulings. The Competition Authority also ordered the US internet giant to present media publishers with “an offer of remuneration for the current use of their copyrighted content.” If not so then risk paying additional damages of up to 900,000 euros a day will be imposed. In this chaos, a Google spokesperson said in a statement to AFP that “the company was “very disappointed by the decision. We have acted in good faith during the entire negotiation period. This fine does not reflect the efforts put in place, nor the reality of the use of news content on our platform.” Earlier, a year back, in April 2020, the French competition authority ordered Google to negotiate “in good faith” with media groups after it refused to comply with a new EU law governing digital copyright. The so-called “neighbouring rights” aim to ensure that news publishers are compensated when their work is shown on websites, search engines and social media platforms. Still Agence France-Presse filed a complaint with regulators, said Google refused to move forward on paying to display content in web searches.

News outlets struggling with dwindling print subscriptions have long seethed at Google’s refusal. The search giant announced in November that it had signed “some individual agreements” on copyright payments with French newspapers and magazines, including top dailies Le Monde and Le Figaro.

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