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| Google faces a fine of 593 million dollars in France |
Google has been fined a record 500 million euros ($593 million) by France's competition authority for failing to comply with a negotiated order for a fair deal with news publishers over the use of its content.
The French competition authority said Google violated an April 2020 ruling that ordered the company to negotiate licensing agreements with publishers and news agencies to reuse copyrighted content.
In January of this year, Google agreed to enter into a comprehensive digital copyright agreement with French publishers. As part of the deal, the company announced that it is negotiating individual licenses with members of the French Press Federation that will cover related rights and access to a new service called News Showcase.
The French competition authority disputed this, stating that it had not discussed any compensation for the current use of content that falls under information rights. The regulator added that Google refused to use the news photos, which limited the scope of conversations with the media.
This is the highest fine imposed by the French competition authority for non-compliance with any of the rules.
The regulator has asked Google to give publishers who use rewards for copyrighted content within two months, otherwise they could face fines of up to €900,000 per day.
Google said it was very disappointed with the decision. A company spokesperson said: “We act with integrity throughout the process. The fine ignores our efforts to reach an agreement and the way information operates on our platform.
Google risks French fine
"We are the only company that has so far announced the relevant rights agreement," the spokesperson added. We are also close to finalizing an agreement with AFP, including a global licensing agreement. As well as compensation for the rights adjacent to his media publications.
The standard penalty is the latest in the ongoing copyright battle between tech giants such as Google, Facebook and news publishers.
France has become the first country in the European Union to pass a controversial new copyright law aimed at giving media outlets more protection to ensure they receive adequate compensation for publishing "excerpts of their content online".
It should be noted that France is not the only country that requires Google to pay for media. Last year, Australia asked Google and Facebook to pay media outlets for their reporting rights.
Facebook initially refused and at one point banned Australians from viewing or sharing news content. before you reach an agreement with the government in the future.
Fearing that tech giants are exerting too much influence on more than 700 million EU citizens, regulators across Europe are cracking down on them.
Facebook has been the subject of antitrust investigations by UK and European Union regulators.
In recent years, the European Commission has launched investigations against Amazon, Google and Microsoft. The UK Competition and Market Authority has also launched an investigation against Apple and the search giant. It did so after the UK left the European Union and became an independent regulator in January.