Google’s agreement with French publishers an important victory, say stakeholders – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Google‘s copyright agreements with some French publishers is a significant shift in the stand given by the search giant on the issue. This comes after months of debate over the sharing of revenues over the sharing of revenues from the display of content in search results.
The individual agreements with six French publishers include Le Monde, Courrier International, L’Obs, Le Figaro, Liberation and L’Express. This comes about a month after a Paris appeals court last month ruled that Google must continue to negotiate with publishers “neighbouring rights” and about paying to use their content.
In a blog post, INMA (International News Media Association) quoted Francis Morel, former CEO of Les Échos/Le Parisien and former president of Syndicat Presse Quotidienne Nationale saying that the decision by Google was an important victory for French publishers.
“It’s the first time that Google has agreed to pay for the use of publishers’ content. That’s a very important act from Google and an important victory for French publishers: Google hereby admits, for the first time, that use of content implies payment,” he said.
Google has clashed repeatedly with publishers over its reluctance to pay for displaying articles, videos and other content in its search results, which have become a vital path for reaching viewers as print subscriptions fade.
The agreements with French publishers involve Google’s vehicle to remunerate them, dubbed Google News Showcase, which already has agreements with leading publications in neighbouring Germany.
The tech giant said it is also in talks with other French national and regional dailies and magazines, and aims to reach a framework agreement with the country’s print-press lobby by the end of the year.
Even though the exact terms of the agreements are still unknown, signatories were enthusiastic about what the agreements meant for their organisations.
President of L’Express Alain Weil said: “This agreement covering neighbouring rights opens a new chapter in our collaboration with Google and allows us to offer Internet users a new enriched experience thanks to News Showcase.”
Last month, Google announced plans to invest $1 billion in partnerships with news publishers worldwide to develop a “Showcase” app to highlight their reporting packages.
The News Showcase licensing programme, announced last month, will feature “story panels” — as opposed to snippets.
According to the INMA blog, France is the first to bring in a national law based on the EU copyright directive, which allows publishers bargaining power when dealing with Big Tech. The agreement follows years of lobbying by some of Europe’s largest publishers for the neighbouring right. EU countries all must pass enabling national legislation by the end of 2020.
Elaborating on the benefits of the agreements, Google Frances’ chief Sebastien Missoffe said: “These agreements … open access to the new News Showcase license programme, which will allow readers to access enriched content and publishers to develop an even closer relationship with their readership, while benefiting from additional conditions of remuneration of their contents.”
Missoffe said that payments would be based on criteria including daily publication volumes, monthly internet traffic, and “the publisher’s contribution to political and general information”.
(With agency inputs)

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