Why is the French press taking Microsoft to court ?

© Shutterstock/Hadrian

This is a new episode in the file on neighboring rights, this European directive which obliges web giants to pay the media for the use and distribution of their online content. We have learned that around fifty members of the Alliance pour la presse d'information générale (APIG), an organization that brings together 300 press titles, are suing Microsoft before the Paris Judicial Court.

French newspapers mobilized

Among the media taking part in this initiative are titles from groups such as Ouest-France and Ebra (Est-Bourgogne-Rhône-Alpes), two big names in the French regional daily press.

These players are demanding several tens of millions of euros from the company founded by Bill Gates, according to Les Échos. The disputes concern in particular the contents of newspapers used on the Bing search engine, the MSN web portal, LinkedIn, and Microsoft Start.

In a press release, the plaintiffs deplore:

Despite repeated requests from publishers for several years, Microsoft and LinkedIn continue to evade their obligation to transmit data. However, this transmission is essential to the opening of good faith negotiations and the establishment of fair compensation for the use of press content.

200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000

Criticized, the Redmond firm responded to the economic media. A company spokesperson says the group is actively engaged “in negotiations with several entities within the EU” and “determined” to conclude agreements with publishers ” in order to compensate them fairly for displaying their work on Bing “.

A delicate subject for web giants

This affair comes at a crucial time for French newspapers. They are in fact renegotiating the previous licensing agreements signed with Meta and Google. At the same time, discussions are underway with OpenAI with the aim of obtaining compensation for the use of their content by AI.

As Libération points out, this issue is particularly sensitive for web giants who have long been reluctant to pay up. Moreover, Google was fined 250 million euros by the Competition Authority, which accused it of not having respected its commitments made in 2022.

What to remember:

• Around fifty French newspapers will file a complaint against Microsoft before the Paris Judicial Court
• They accuse the tech giant of not respecting the European directive on neighboring rights
• The Redmond firm says it is determined to continue negotiations to find licensing agreements with the media

📍 To not miss any Presse-citron news, follow us on Google News and WhatsApp.

[ ]