The Court of Justice of the European Union issued a historic ruling yesterday, Tuesday, May 12, ruling that member states can legally require platforms to pay fair remuneration to press publishers (and by extension journalists) when their content is used by digital platforms, as well as to establish procedures that oblige platforms to negotiate with press publishers and provide them with the necessary information to determine the remuneration.
The decision was issued in a dispute between Meta Platforms Ireland and the Italian regulatory authority AGCOM (Telecommunications and Postal Authority) and ruled for the first time on issues of interpretation of the related right of press publishers, as established by the 2019 European Directive on copyright in the Digital Single Market and in particular the compatibility of the relevant Italian Law with EU law.
With the European Court of Justice confirming that the use of press publications by platforms requires prior permission and obviously remuneration and that national authorities can intervene, even by imposing sanctions, to ensure fair compensation for publishers, this decision is considered pivotal for the future of journalism and the relationships of publishers with tech giants.
Among many important judgments, the CJEU specifically ruled that platforms are obliged to enter into negotiations and provide the necessary data for calculating remuneration, while they are prohibited from limiting the visibility of news content during negotiations with publishers.
It is obvious that the decision constitutes a vindication of both press publishers and journalists, who are entitled to a share of any remuneration paid to publishers by the platforms.
Special weight of the decision for Greece
The ECJ's decision signals something even more important for Greece, as the Greek law by which the related right of press publishers is incorporated into the Greek legal order has been formed following the Italian model.
Therefore, the judgments of the decision directly concern the Greek institutional framework, completely validating the choice of the Greek legislator to assign the Hellenic Post and Telecommunications Commission (EETT) to adopt the Regulation for the specification of the criteria for determining issuers by platforms, as well as the possibility of imposing administrative fines in the event of non-compliance of platforms with the obligations set forth.
His manager OSDEL Giorgandreas Zannos stated: “The Court of Justice of the European Union, with its historic decision, confirmed that the timeless demand of publishers and journalists towards the major platforms for remuneration and transparency in negotiations is both fair and self-evident. This is a decision that takes into account the imbalance of power that exists between the omnipotent platforms on the one hand and the press publishers on the other. Ensuring the sustainability and therefore the pluralism of the press in the digital age is an imperative need of Democracy and this decision confirms that the establishment of obligations for the major platforms is the only way to achieve this sustainability. For Greece, the importance of the decision is multiple, as Greek law follows the basic principles of the Italian model, which was deemed to be completely compatible with EU law. It is noted that Greek press publishers and journalists are still not compensated by the major platforms for the use of journalistic content because 4 years after the law was passed, the Regulation has not been issued by EETT, which will specify the criteria, methodology and procedure for determining remuneration.
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The Organization for the Collective Management of Works of Speech (OSDEL) is a non-profit civil society association. Its purpose is the collective management and protection of the intellectual and related rights of authors and publishers of works of speech. It has been operating since 1997 with a license from the Ministry of Culture (in accordance with the provisions of Law 4481/2017). It represents more than 7.500 writers, journalists, translators and visual artists (illustrators, cartoonists, photographers, etc.), over 1.100 publishers of books, magazines, the press and almost all foreign printed works, through reciprocal agreements with 48 foreign Copyright Collective Management Organizations.
osdel.gr: 73 Themistokleous, Athens 106 83, tel. 210 3849 100, info@osdel.gr
