Inside AFP
Copyright law : AFP ready to take action
International news agency Agence France-Presse is preparing a complaint against Google before France’s competition regulator over its refusal to pay news companies for displaying their content. An alliance of dozens of French media announced a similar action on Thursday.
France became on Thursday the first country to apply an EU copyright law which was passed this year to ensure publishers are compensated when their work is displayed online.
The EU law “applies to news agencies and AFP obvioulsy intends to assert its rights and will soon take action”, Fabrice Fries, Chairman and CEO of AFP said.
About 1,100 journalists as well as filmmakers and media CEOs signed an open letter published in newspapers across Europe urging governments to ensure that Google and other tech firms comply with the new EU rule.