Internet giant Google has announced that it will appeal the €500 million fine imposed on the company by the French competition watchdog.
The case revolves around the so-called neighbouring rights to news items, of which Google publishes fragments.
The tech giant was fined because it did not negotiate ‘in good faith’ with the publishers about the compensation for that use of news items.
“We do not agree with certain legal elements and believe that the fine is disproportionate compared to the efforts we have made,” Sébastien Missoffe, the chief executive of Google France, said in a press release.
Last year, Google was ordered by the French antitrust regulator to strike a deal on the placement of news articles on the Google News Service but has not complied with it, the competition watchdog said.
Soon after the Autorité de la concurrence announced the fine, Google and the French news agency AFP announced that an agreement is near.