Google fined 250 million euros by France in news copyright dispute

French regulators said on Wednesday they had fined Google 250 million euros ($272 million) for breaking a promise to pay media companies for copying its content online without telling them. case uses its materials for its artificial intelligence chatbot.

Google pledged in 2022 to negotiate fairly with French news organizations, a year after the competition authority fined the U.S. tech giant 500 million euros in a long-running dispute.

Organizations representing French magazines and newspapers, as well as Agence France-Presse (AFP), filed a lawsuit with the regulator in 2019.

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Under its pledge, the US tech giant must provide news organizations with transparent payment offers within three months of receiving a copyright complaint.

But the regulator said on Wednesday it would impose a new fine on Google for “failing” to comply with four of seven commitments it made in 2022 and not negotiating in “good faith” with news publishers.

The US tech giant also used content from news organizations to train its artificial intelligence platform Bard, now known as Gemini, without notifying them or authorities, the regulator said.

It added that Google had failed to provide publishers and news organizations with technical solutions that would enable them to object to the use of their content, “impeding” their ability to negotiate remuneration.

The regulator said that as part of the settlement process, Google had agreed “not to dispute the facts” and to propose “a series of corrective measures” to address the issues identified by the authority.

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Google said in a statement that the fine was disproportionate and did not “fully take into account our efforts to answer and address the concerns raised – in an environment where it is difficult to set course because we cannot predict what issues will arise.” How the wind will blow next. “

“We have reached a settlement as it is time to move on,” the company said, noting that it had signed “substantial licensing agreements” with 280 French news publishers under the European Copyright Directive.

The European Union created a form of copyright called “neighboring rights” in 2019 that allows print media to claim compensation for the use of their content.

‘priceless’

France has been a test case for EU rules, with both Google and Facebook agreeing to pay some French media outlets for articles that appear in web searches after an initial pushback.

Marina Ferrari, the French government’s secretary of state for digital affairs, said: “Reliable, responsibly sourced and trustworthy information is priceless, but it also comes at a cost. The Competition Authority reminds Google of this today.”

“It is better to provide publishers with higher and fair remuneration than to continue to pay fines to the state,” said Pierre Louette, the former head of AFP and now chief executive of Les Echos.

Google said that “a lack of clear regulatory guidance and repeated enforcement actions have made negotiations with publishers difficult” since the law came into effect.

The tech firm also said there needs to be “greater clarity” on which media must be paid, as these can include everything from general news outlets to specialist sailing publications or list and comparison websites.

Google added: “Now is the time for greater clarity on who and how we should pay so that all parties can chart a path to a more sustainable business environment.”

Other EU countries have also challenged Google over news content.

Spain’s competition watchdog launched an investigation into Google last year, accusing it of anti-competitive behavior affecting news organizations and publications.

In 2022, Germany’s antitrust regulator shelved an investigation into Google’s News Showcase service after the tech giant made “important changes” to ease competition concerns.