Google to pay $76 million to French Publishers for snippets in search

Google has agreed to pay $76 million over three years to a group of 121 French news publishers to end a more than year-long copyright spat.

The agreement between Google and the Alliance de la presse d’information generale (APIG), a lobby group representing most major French publishers, was announced previously, but financial terms had not been disclosed.

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The move infuriated many other French outlets, which deemed it unfair and opaque.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) and other French news providers that do not belong to the group are not part of the agreement and are pressing forward with various actions against Google.

The French documents include a framework agreement in which Google will pay $22 million annually for three years to a group of 121 national and local French news publications after signing individual licensing agreements with each.

The second document is a settlement agreement under which Google agrees to pay $10 million to the same group in exchange for the publishers’ commitment not to sue over copyright claims for three years.

Publishers would commit to an upcoming new product called Google News Showcase that would allow publishers to curate content and provide limited access to paywalled stories.

Google declined to comment on terms of the deal.

Pressure is mounting on Google globally to pay for news content, as the industry’s advertising and revenues have plummeted with the rise of digital platforms.

French publishers had little choice but to go along with the deal, three sources close to the matter, citing pressures from shareholders.

The same sources said some publishers were upset Google refused to provide access to data showing how much money it generates from news. These opaque agreements don’t ensure the fair treatment of all news publishers they said