Meta Faces Pressure from French Watchdog to Resume Copyright Payment Talks

France’s competition authority has ordered Meta to jump back into negotiations with French press groups over copyright payments, citing a lackadaisical approach from the tech giant that has weakened protections for news content. This directive comes hot on the heels of complaints lodged by two organizations representing French news publishers, who argue that Meta has dropped the ball in reaching new agreements. The Société des Droits Voisins de la Presse (DVP), which manages rights for publishers and news agencies, along with l’Alliance de la Presse d’Information Générale (APIG), which represents around 300 publications, are at the forefront of this dispute.

Their beef centers around what’s known as neighboring rights or related rights—a form of copyright protection that allows press publishers and news agencies to demand payment when online platforms like Meta reuse or display parts of their content. These rules, rooted in the European Union’s 2019 Copyright Directive, have become crucial in France’s push to make major U.S. tech firms cut a deal with publishers when their news content is showcased on their platforms.

Now, back in 2021 and 2022, tech companies like Meta and Google signed agreements with French press outlets to comply with these neighboring rights rules. But here’s the kicker—Meta’s contracts with DVP and APIG expired in December 2024 for DVP members and January 2025 for APIG members. No new agreements were reached, which means APIG and DVP members are no longer cashing in on their materials being reused or displayed on Meta’s platforms, even as their content continues to flow through services like Facebook.

The French authority, known as Autorité de la concurrence, has also demanded that Meta cough up the necessary information to evaluate payments within a tight 15-day window. They’ve flagged that the company’s practices could potentially amount to “an abuse of a dominant position.” Ouch! To add to the drama, the regulator slammed Meta for excluding most of its services—think Instagram and Threads—from negotiations, only considering press content shared by users on Facebook. This could seriously undermine France’s neighboring rights rules.

This whole saga unfolds against a backdrop where news outlets argue that major platforms are reaping benefits from broadcasting original journalistic content, ultimately leading to big bucks from ads for companies like Meta. Interestingly, France’s competition watchdog had Google in its crosshairs not too long ago, slapping them with a €250 million fine in 2024 for not adhering to commitments related to neighboring rights negotiations. This included failing to fulfill transparency obligations and using press content to train AI tools without keeping publishers in the loop.

Now, the order against Meta is just a temporary measure, meaning it doesn’t finalize how much the company might have to shell out. It’s more of a nudge, pushing Meta back to the negotiating table while the authority keeps looking into the broader case. So, folks, the question remains: how will Meta respond, and what’s next in this ongoing battle for fair compensation?

Kaynak: Orijinal Haber