The French competition authority has fined Google 500 million euros for copyright infringement because the Internet search engine did not agree with the press about a reward for the use of its content. He was awarded after two months of punishment for making offers to compensate news providers, otherwise he could expect a fine of €900,000 per day.
As is known, there has been a discussion in several places around the world between Google and the press about why the Internet search engine uses its content in a variety of ways, for free.
When a regulatory body obligates a company to do something, it must act honestly in letter and spirit. In this case, unfortunately, that was not the case
Said Isabel de Silva, Head of the French Office.
The agency said in a statement that despite repeated calls, the giant had not discussed the benefits with newspapers about how much it would pay for the content.
Google said in a statement that it was very disappointed with the decision.
We negotiated in good faith throughout the process. The fine also ignores our efforts to reach an agreement and the true role of news on our platforms.
A company spokesman said.
Under the 2019 European Union Copyright Directive, online platforms are liable for copyright infringement on their interface and, as a related right, they are required to pay for the content they use.
(Cover Photo: Nicholas Economou/NoorPhoto/Getty Images)
