“We wish to conclude definitive agreements, in compliance with the law, and to open a new chapter with the press editors. “ If this statement by Sébastien Missoffe, the CEO of Google France, is not a ceasefire, it looks a lot like it. Extracted from a post on the official French blog of the American company, it accompanies a series of commitments, detailed, Wednesday, December 15, on the website of the Competition Authority (ADLC), tending to create a neighboring right between Google, on the one hand, and news agencies and publishers, on the other.
If the latter were to be accepted, the framework for negotiations on the remuneration of newspapers, magazines or press agencies when online platforms use their content (the meaning of the transposition into French law of the European directive on the right to author) would finally be asked, and the showdown started in 2019 would finally find its epilogue.
Before getting there, publishers and press agencies are invited by the Competition Authority to submit their observations no later than January 31, 2022, in order to “Determine whether the proposed commitments respond appropriately to the competition concerns expressed”, indicates the ADLC. At the end of this market test, the authority, provisionally chaired by Emmanuel Combe, will determine any changes, before setting rules valid for five years, as proposed by Google.
” In good faith “
“We believe that our commitments are valid, since they include the injunctions given to us by the Authority in April”, indicates a spokesperson for Google France. The American group undertakes to lead the discussions ” in good faith “ and in compliance with the intellectual property code; to make a transparent remuneration proposal within three months of the start of negotiations; to ensure that “Neither the indexing, nor the classification, nor the presentation of the protected contents” are not affected during negotiations.
As proof of its goodwill, the American company made two additional proposals: the appointment of an independent representative, who would guarantee the implementation of the commitments made, and the possibility of seizing (at its expense) an arbitral tribunal in the case where the negotiating parties were struggling to come to an agreement. In the event that these provisions should become tables of law, the ADLC may decide to put an end to the substantive procedure initiated by the publishers.
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