France hails victory as Facebook agrees to pay newspapers for content

France has hailed a triumph successful its long-running quest for fairer enactment from tech companies aft Facebook reached an statement with a radical of nationalist and determination newspapers to wage for contented shared by its users.

Facebook connected Thursday announced a licensing statement with the APIG confederation of French nationalist and determination newspapers, which includes Le Parisien and Ouest-France arsenic good arsenic smaller titles. It said this meant “people connected Facebook volition beryllium capable to proceed uploading and sharing quality stories freely amongst their communities, whilst besides ensuring that the copyright of our publishing partners is protected”.

France had been battling for 2 years to support the publishing rights and gross of its property and quality agencies against what it termed the domination of almighty tech companies that stock quality contented oregon amusement quality stories successful web searches.

In 2019 France became the archetypal EU state to enact a directive connected the publishing rights of media companies and quality agencies, called “neighbouring rights”, which required ample tech platforms to unfastened talks with publishers seeking remuneration for usage of quality content. But it has taken agelong negotiations to scope agreements connected paying publishers for content.

No item was fixed of the nonstop magnitude agreed by Facebook and the APIG.

Pierre Louette, the caput of the media radical Les Echos-Le Parisien, led the confederation of newspapers who negotiated arsenic a radical with Facebook. He said the statement was “the effect of an outspoken and fruitful dialog betwixt publishers and a starring integer platform”. He said the presumption agreed would let Facebook to instrumentality French instrumentality “while generating important funding” for quality publishers, notably the smallest ones.

Other newspapers, specified arsenic the nationalist regular Le Monde, person negotiated their ain deals successful caller months. News agencies person besides negotiated separately.

After the 2019 French directive to support publishers’ rights, a copyright spat raged for much than a twelvemonth successful which French media groups sought to find communal crushed with planetary tech firms. Google initially refused to comply, saying media groups already benefited by receiving millions of visits to their websites. News outlets struggling with dwindling people subscriptions complained astir not receiving a chopped of the millions made from ads displayed alongside quality stories, peculiarly connected Google.

But this twelvemonth Google announced it had reached a draught statement with the APIG to wage publishers for a enactment of contented shown successful its searches.

Facebook said that too paying for French content, it would besides motorboat a French quality service, Facebook News, successful January – a follow-up to akin services successful the US and UK – to “give radical a dedicated abstraction to entree contented from trusted and reputable quality sources”.

Facebook reached deals with astir of Australia’s largest media companies earlier this year. Nine Entertainment, which includes the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age, said successful its annual report that it was expecting “strong maturation successful the short-term” from its deals with Facebook and Google.

British newspapers including the Guardian signed up past year to a programme successful which Facebook pays to licence articles that look connected a dedicated quality conception connected the societal media site. Separately, successful July Guardian Australia struck a woody with Facebook to licence quality content.