Google $76m deal with French news publishers criticised as 'opaque'

By Emmanuel Legrand

Google's agreement to pay directly $76 million over three years to a group of French news publishers has been described by other publishers who are not party to the deal as "opaque."

  Reuters reported that the deal includes a framework agreement which will see Google pay $22 million annually in total to a group of 121 national and local French news publications, represented by the Alliance de la presse d’information generale (APIG), pending individual licensing agreements signed with with each of them.

  Another document disclosed by Reuters is a settlement agreement by which Google will pay $10m to the same group of publishers "in exchange for their commitment to end all present and future potential litigation tied to copyright claims over the duration of the three-year agreement," said Reuters.

Commit to use Google News Showcase

  APIG and Google reached an agreement at the start of the year but had not disclosed the terms of the deal. “These opaque agreements don’t ensure the fair treatment of all news publishers, since the calculation formula isn’t made public,” said SPIIL, the organisation regrouping independent online news publishers.

  Reuters disclosed that publishers willing to access the yearly $22m pot each organisation will have to sign an individual licensing agreement with Google. France's leading daily Le Monde would receive $1.3m while local publisher La Voix de la Haute Marne would cash in $13,741. In addition, national dailies such as Le Monde, Le Figaro and Liberation have negotiated about €3m ($3.6m) each per year on top of this, and have agreed to sell subscriptions through Google.

  APIG members also have to commit to use and feed Google’s news platform Google News Showcase, currently rolled out in Brazil and Germany and to be launched in Australia too.

Complaint with antitrust authorities

  Google was forced into an agreement in France as the country was the first to transpose into national legislation the European Union's Copyright Directive, which introduced, through its Article 15, the concept of a neighbouring right paid to news publishers by platforms using news or indexing news. 

  However, many news organisations complain that the direct deal between APIG and Google leaves too many publishers out of the agreement and distorts the law. News agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) has filed a complaint with the France's antitrust authority against Google.

  The agreement with French publishers is one of the first of such deals signed by Google, which has also started making deals with local publishers in Australia, while still combating the country's proposed Code that will force online services using news content to remunerate news publishers.