Google inks deal with German publishers amid EU copyright reform

Berlin: Search engine giant, Google has agreed to pay news wire Agence France-Presse (AFP) for the use of its content, following a fine from the French regulator over payment for the use of online news and other content.

Company announced Thursday, that it has signed its first contracts with German publishers following the introduction of a new law that gives more rights to news publishers online.

The agreements were signed, among others, with news magazine Der Spiegel, newspapers Die Zeit, Tagesspiegel, and Stroeer's online news website t-online.de.

The companies confirmed the agreements with the internet giant. 

Conversations with a number of other publishers "are at an advanced stage," Google said in a statement. "For both us and our partners, these copyright agreements represent a milestone in strengthening successful partnerships," it added. The statement did not give details on payments made.

Earlier this year, German copyright law was amended to account for the internet's growing importance regarding copyrighted content. This follows the European Copyright Directive, which has been implemented in European Union member states.

Germany has also passed a new ancillary copyright law for press publishers and journalists in the country.

The changes are intended to ensure that authors and publishers are financially remunerated when external internet platforms incorporate their content into their services. 

Web platforms like Google and Facebook have long been reluctant to pay media for using content such as news article extracts in their user feeds. 

However, the EU’s so-called neighboring rights law—passed in 2019 compelled them to strike payment agreements with the region’s publishers. 

Google and a group of French press titles excluding AFP struck an initial agreement in January. 

In July 2021, the French competition authority fined Google 500 million euros ($593 million) for having failed to negotiate “in good faith” with news outlets.