The tech giant Google has paid a €500 million fine which was imposed by a French regulator as part of news copyright negotiations, according to a government official.
The fine was imposed by France’s competition authority in July for failing to negotiate “in good faith” with media companies over the use of their content under EU copyright rules.
France’s minister in charge of digital affairs, Cedric O, told lawmakers that Google had indeed paid the fine, even though the tech giant has lodged an appeal.
The regulator also ordered Google to present media publishers with “an offer of remuneration for the current use of their copyrighted content” within two months, or risk paying additional damages of up to 900,000 euros a day.
