Tech giant Google has reached an agreement with regard to the issue of content publishing rights with French publishers’ lobby APIG that comprises around 300 newspapers, according to media reports.
Google and the publishers’ association in January had said they were in agreement with regard to a copyright framework for the US tech major to pay news publishers for content online, in a first for Europe, paving the way for individual licensing agreements, news agency Reuters reported.
The deal meant that negotiations, which started in September on what to pay papers for using their content in Google search results, were successful, said a joint statement by both the parties.
This deal assumes significance as it paves the way for individual licensing agreements for French publications amid revenues drop with the rise of the Internet and declines in print circulation.
Alphabet-owned Google and the Alliance de la presse d’information générale (APIG) – the publishers’ lobby — said in a statement that the framework included criteria such as the daily volume of publications, monthly internet traffic and “contribution to political and general information”, according to Reuters.
Google has so far only signed licensing agreements with a few publications in France, including national daily newspapers Le Monde and Le Figaro.
Google’s vehicle for paying news publishers, called Google News Showcase, is so far only available in Brazil and Germany.
On Thursday, Reuters confirmed it had signed a deal with Google to be the first global news provider to Google News Showcase. Reuters is owned by news and information provider Thomson Reuters Corp.
“Reuters is committed to developing new ways of providing access to trusted, high-quality and reliable global news coverage at a time when it’s never been more important,” Eric Danetz, Global Head of Revenue, Reuters, said in a statement.
Google and APIG did not say how much money would be distributed to APIG’s members, who include most French national and local publishers. Details on how the remuneration would be calculated were not disclosed.
The deal follows months of negotiations between Google, French publishers and news agencies over how to apply revamped EU copyright rules, which allow publishers to demand a fee from online platforms showing extracts of their news.
Google, the world’s biggest search engine, initially was against the idea of paying publishers for content, saying their websites benefited from the greater traffic it brought.
