France fines Google €500 million over copyright

France's antitrust watchdog slapped a €500 million ($593 million) fine on Google because the tech giant failed to comply with the regulation on news copyright. The authority ordered Google to compensate France news agencies and publishers for the use of their news. If Google fails to fulfil the demand, the company would face additional fines of up to €900,000 per day.

The Competition Authority said Google had breached an April 2020 ruling that ordered the company to negotiate “in good faith” licensing deals with publishers and news agencies for any reuse of copyrighted content.

Back in 2019, France became the first EU country to put the EU Digital Copyright Directive into national law. The law regulates the so-called "neighbouring rights." As a result, Google agreed to not show content from EU publishers in France on its search and news, unless the publishers allow it to do so free of charge.

Google responded that they are “very disappointed” with the decision. “We have acted in good faith throughout the entire process. The fine ignores our efforts to reach an agreement, and the reality of how news works on our platforms. To date, Google is the only company to have announced agreements on neighbouring rights," a Google spokesperson told CNBC.