Some French media have filed a lawsuit against social media platform X (formerly Twitter). The complaint in the case said that the content of the media was being published on the platforms without paying any money.
Concurrently prosecuting X—Le Figaro, Le Figaro, Les Ecos, Le Parisienne and Le Monde—are some of the French newspapers. It was joined by cultural magazine Telerama, Courier International, HuffPost, Malesherbes Publications and weekly newspaper Nouvelle Obs.
They allege that X has violated 'neighboring rights'. This is a European Directive, which has been incorporated into French law. According to this law, when social media platforms publish news content, the media will have to pay.
The newspapers, along with the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP), had already applied for an emergency injunction against X. They allege that X is publishing their content without consulting the media and not paying them as per the law.
On May 24, the Paris court ruled in favor of the media company. The ruling gave X two months to provide the necessary commercial information to determine the revenue earned from news content through the platform.
Explaining the rationale behind their latest lawsuit, the papers say, 'X has not followed this decision' and 'it is trying to avoid its legal responsibilities.'
France has been fighting for years to protect its publishing rights and the income of news agencies. France sees it as a counter to the dominance of technology companies. These companies share news content or display news stories in web searches. France claims that these actions are causing financial damage to the media.
To combat this the European Union has created a type of copyright known as 'neighboring rights'. This right allows media outlets to claim compensation for the use of their content.
France has served as a testing ground for EU rules. In 2019, it became the first EU country to legally implement a directive on publishing rights for media companies and news organizations. This has forced major tech platforms to enter into negotiations with publishers demanding compensation for the use of news content. After initial resistance, both Google and Facebook agreed that the companies would pay some French media for their reports.
X's French lawyer said in March this year that the social media platform does not fall under the 'neighboring rights' directive because it relies more on 'user posts' than Google or Facebook and does not publish news content on its own initiative. The French public broadcaster has published a report on this.
References: The Guardian
