Meta loses Italian publisher pay case at EU's top court

"The right of publishers of press publications to fair remuneration is permissible, provided that such remuneration constitutes consideration for the authorisation granted to providers to reproduce those publications or to make them available to the public. Publishers, the court added, retain the right to refuse authorisation altogether, or to grant it free of charge."

"The decree gave AGCOM the authority to define how fair remuneration is calculated, to intervene where talks break down, and to demand information from platforms about the data underlying their use of publishers' content. Meta challenged the implementation, arguing the Italian model clashed with EU law."

"The case arrived in Luxembourg via Italy, where AGCOM in 2023 set out a model under which information-service providers, including Meta and Google, would be required to negotiate compensation with publishers for the online use of their journalism. The CJEU has now ruled the model is consistent with the bloc's 2019 copyright directive."

"Crucially, the court endorsed AGCOM's authority to require platforms to share the data needed to calculate fair compensation. That asymmetry, where only the platforms know what each piece of content is worth to them commercially, has been the publishers' chief grievan"

Italy’s telecoms watchdog AGCOM can require Meta to compensate publishers for online use of news snippets. The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that publishers’ right to fair remuneration is permissible when it constitutes consideration for authorization granted to platforms to reproduce or make publications available to the public. Publishers may refuse authorization or grant it without charge. AGCOM’s 2023 model requires information-service providers to negotiate compensation with publishers and allows AGCOM to define fair remuneration, intervene if negotiations fail, and demand information from platforms. The court confirmed the model aligns with the 2019 copyright directive and endorsed AGCOM’s authority to require data sharing needed to calculate compensation.

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