July 13, 2021

Google has been fined $593 million by the French antitrust authority after failing to comply with the regulator’s orders on how to conduct conversations with the country’s news publishers in a copyright debate.

The news publishers APIG, SEPM and AFP accused Google of failing to engage in good faith discussions with them in order to find common ground for the payment of online news content in view of the European Union’s recent “neighboring rights.”

The case concerned whether Google had breached temporary antitrust orders requiring such conversations to take place over a period of three months with any requesting news organization.

The fine comes amid mounting pressure on online platforms around the world to share more revenue with news outlets.

Despite the fine, Google will have to submit proposals over the next two months on what steps it will take to compensate news agencies and publishers for the use of their news, or face a fine of £900,000 per day.

For more information, read the original story in Reuters.