French antitrust watchdog orders Meta to resume talks with media groups over publishing fees

(Corrects to "unpaid fees" from "fine" in paragraph 11)

By Forrest Crellin

PARIS, July 8 (Reuters) - France's competition authority on Wednesday ordered Meta Platforms to put forward a payment plan and resume talks with French media groups that are seeking a year of unpaid fees for the use of their content online.

The case is one of a growing number between publishers and tech companies over the use of content published on social media or used for AI training that have triggered litigation.

Lodged by French media associations DVP and APIG, the French complaint alleged that Meta attempted to impose its own method for calculating fees for the re-use of published content on its services, while refusing to provide the information needed for them to evaluate the remuneration.

The authority said Meta likely abused its dominant position, and it ordered the Facebook owner to put forward details of its payment plan within 15 days.

In a statement, Meta said it disagreed with the competition authority's decisions but would engage with the process.

"We remain committed to reaching a fair deal with DVP and APIG and we hope these decisions will mean the publishers now engage in good faith," it said in an emailed statement.

Media rights group DVP, which includes the newspapers Le Monde and Les Echos, said it was satisfied with the decision and welcomed the renewed talks.

WHAT ARE 'NEIGHBOURING RIGHTS'?

At the heart of the dispute are "neighbouring rights," which in the European Union allow print media to seek payment for the digital use of their content. 

France has sought to strictly enforce the EU rules, resulting in large fines in recent years for tech companies, particularly Alphabet's Google.

The competition authority said it did not set a provisional amount for the unpaid fees owed by Meta in this case, as it said it did not want to alter the negotiation with a figure determined by the authority.

"Setting a specific amount risked creating a focal point for the negotiation — something we wanted to avoid," said Benoit Coeure, president of the antitrust authority.

A previous agreement between Meta and press associations DVP and APIG expired in 2024 and the two sides have since failed to agree on the amount due, meaning the French media have received no payment since 2025.

That has caused financial harm to DVP and APIG members, said the authority, despite their news content continuing to be distributed on Meta's services.

(Reporting by Forrest Crellin and Dominique Vidalon, Editing by Dominique Patton and Barbara Lewis)