Google agreement preventing legal action
Google’s agreement to pay French publishers for using their content online only covers some publishers and has left the rest pressing on with more action against Google to make the company pay all publishers in accordance with the new EU copyright directive that is included in French legislation.
The EU directive aims to make big IT companies negotiate and pay all publishers for using their content online. Google’s agreement with Alliance de la presse d’information generale (APIG) was announced earlier but no details were made published. According to information now leaked, the agreement only covers publishers agreeing to be in Google’s new service called News Showcase.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) and other French news providers that do not belong to the group are not part of the agreement and are pressing forward with various actions against Google.
The French documents seen by Reuters include a framework agreement in which Google will pay USD 22 million annually for three years to a group of 121 national and local French news publications after signing individual licensing agreements with each.
The second document is a settlement agreement under which Google agrees to pay USD 10 million to the same group in exchange for the publishers’ commitment not to sue over copyright claims for three years.
Publishers would commit to the new Google News Showcase that would allow publishers to curate content and provide limited access to paywalled stories.
Google declined to comment on terms of the deal, Reuters reported. Reuters itself has earlier agreed to be a provider of news to Google News Showcase.
The pressure on big IT companies to pay publishers for using their content on the internet is a world-wide issue with an Australian proposed legislation presently in focus. This law would force IT companies to pay publishers and says that if they cannot agree on pricing, an independent panel would decide. Google has threatened to close its search service in Australia if the law is approved. Google competitor Microsoft has said it supports the legislation and that its search service Bing can be used in Australia if Google would close its search in the country.
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