Google fined $593 million by France’s competition watchdog

French competition regulators fined Google 500 million euros, or $593 million, for not complying with an order to negotiate fair deals with news publishers for using their content.

France’s Autorité de la concurrence said the tech giant had earlier breached a ruling in April 2020 which ordered the company to negotiate “in good faith” licensing deals with publishers and news agencies for any re-use of copyrighted content, reported CNBC.

Google, in January, had agreed a deal with French publishers saying the company would negotiate individual licenses with members of France’s press alliance covering related rights and access to a new service called News Showcase.

France’s authority, though, said that it did not take into account the remuneration for current uses of content covered by “neighboring rights” for the press.

The company was then asked to frame an offer of remuneration within two months or face fines.

According to France 24, the fine imposed on Google is the largest ever by French competition regulator for the failure of a company to follow its ruling.

CNBC reported that a Google spokesperson said, “We have acted in good faith throughout the entire process. The fine ignores our efforts to reach an agreement, and the reality of how news works on our platforms.”

“To date, Google is the only company to have announced agreements on neighbouring rights,” the spokesperson added. “We are also about to finalize an agreement with AFP that includes a global licensing agreement, as well as the remuneration of their neighbouring rights for their press publications.”

(With inputs from CNBC)

Picture Credits: CNBC