Google is interesting a 500 million euro (USD 591 million) wonderful issued by French regulators over its dealing with of negotiations with publishers in a dispute over copyright.

The dispute is a component of a bigger battle by authorities in Europe and elsewhere to drive Google and different tech firms to compensate publishers for content material.

“We disagree with a number of legal elements, and believe that the fine is disproportionate to our efforts to reach an agreement and comply with the new law,” Google France Vice President Sebastien Missoffe stated in a press assertion.

France”s antitrust watchdog levied the wonderful in mid-July after it discovered Google hadn”t negotiated in good religion with publishers over funds for his or her information tales.

The watchdog had issued momentary orders to Google in April 2020 to carry talks inside three months with information publishers, and had fined the corporate for breaching these orders.

“We continue to work hard to resolve this case and put deals in place. This includes expanding offers to 1200 publishers, clarifying aspects of our contracts, and we are sharing more data as requested by the French Competition Authority in their July Decision,” Missoffe stated.

The antitrust watchdog additionally threatened fines of one other 900,000 euros (round USD 1 million) per day if Google didn”t provide you with proposals inside two months on the way it can pay publishers and information companies for his or her content material.

France was the primary of the European Union”s 27 nations to undertake the bloc”s 2019 copyright directive, which lays out a method for publishers and information firms to strike licensing offers with on-line platforms. 

(PTI)