The investigative newspaper has just refused the money that Google would have paid it in the form of “related rights”. And Mediapart cites a matter of transparency to justify its refusal.
Since a 2019 European directive, it is believed that newspapers can obtain a sum of money from internet giants, such as Google, based on related rights. For the legislator, it is a matter of remunerating the reuse of content produced by the media on the main digital platforms. Google is complying with this exercise, but under conditions that Mediapart does not meet. Because of this, the newspaper refused to accept the amount owed.
Mediapart says no to Google’s money
Last October, the Collective Management Organisation for Related Press Rights (OGC-DVP), which represents 305 publishers and news agencies such as AFP and Le Monde, reached an agreement with Google. But if since then the newspapers have validated the payment made by the American giant, Mediapart has decided to refuse.
“In March 2024, Mediapart was supposed to receive a considerable sum in exchange for Google’s use of our articles, and therefore our proprietary information, on its search engine. But in the absence of transparency, we stopped the transfer from coming to our accounts,” the newspaper said.
A battle for transparency
Mediapart criticises the opaque conditions imposed by the contract. “It was not possible to extort an essential condition for our newspaper: transparency about the signed contract and its terms of application,” the media inform us. According to Mediapart, this is a way for Google not to “publicly recognize the value of information.”
For the time being, the “substantial” sum that Mediapart should have received, for three years of use of its articles, remains in the reserves of the OGC-DVP. With this decision, the media founded by Edwy Plenel more than 15 years ago hopes to launch a fundamental movement in the sector, and to be joined by others, to be able to put pressure on Google. The long-term aim is for Parliament to enshrine in law the ‘rejection of secrecy’ in relation to related rights.