Google is appealing against a € 500 million fine paid to the tech company in France for infringement of copyright by media companies. According to the French Competition Authority, Google did not comply with an order to make a deal with French media companies about posting their news items on Google’s own platform.
Google received that assignment last year from the French regulator. Google posted news items from media companies on its own news service Google News without media companies receiving money for it. This violated their rights.
When issuing the fine in June, the Competition Authority stated that the amount of the fine was related to the seriousness of the infringements and the behaviour of Google. “This has led to further delays in enforcing the legislation,” said President Isabelle de Silva at the time.
Google now claims that the fine is “disproportionate”, especially since the tech company has put a lot of effort into negotiations with French media companies. According to Sébastien Missoffe, the head of Google France, the company also disagrees with some legal points. Google already said in July that it was very disappointed with the fine.
