Google challenges $591-mn French fine over copyright

Google is appealing a €500 million ($591 million) fine issued by French regulators over its handling of negotiations with publishers in a dispute over copyright.

The dispute is part of a larger battle by authorities in Europe and elsewhere to force Google and other tech companies to compensate publishers for content.

“We disagree with a number of legal elements, and believe that the fine is disproportionate to our efforts to reach an agreement and comply with the new law,” Google France Vice President Sebastien Missoffe said.

France's antitrust watchdog levied the fine in mid-july after it found Google hadn't negotiated in good faith with publishers over payments for their news stories.

The watchdog had issued temporary orders to Google in April 2020 to hold talks within three months with news publishers, and had fined the company for breaching those orders.

“We continue to work hard to resolve this case and put deals in place. This includes expanding offers to 1200 publishers, clarifying aspects of our contracts, and we are sharing more data as requested by the French Competition Authority in their July

“I'm happy to say that a large number of offices globally are already open for business, and we are welcoming back tens of thousands of Googlers on a voluntary basis... The road ahead may be a little longer and bumpier than we hoped, yet I remain optimistic that we will get through it together” SUNDAR PICHAI Google CEO

Decision,” Missoffe said.

The antitrust watchdog also threatened fines of another 900,000 euros (around USD 1 million) per day if Google didn't come up with proposals within two months on how it will pay publishers and news agencies for their content. France was the first of the European Union's 27 nations to adopt the bloc's 2019 copyright directive, which lays out a way for publishers and news companies to strike licensing deals with online platforms.