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| Google threatens to drop French media links over fees plan | Google threatens to drop French media links over fees plan |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Google is in a showdown with the French government over proposals to make search engines pay a charge for each link to French newspaper content. | Google is in a showdown with the French government over proposals to make search engines pay a charge for each link to French newspaper content. |
| Google is threatening to exclude French media sites from its search results if Paris goes ahead with the plan for such sites to receive a commission fee each time they are referenced. | Google is threatening to exclude French media sites from its search results if Paris goes ahead with the plan for such sites to receive a commission fee each time they are referenced. |
| It is the latest in a series of confrontations between the US company and European governments. This year German politicians examined draft legislation for a similar scheme of commission fees for newspapers sites. Editors claim the search engine is benefiting from advertising opportunities that are being lost to their sites. | It is the latest in a series of confrontations between the US company and European governments. This year German politicians examined draft legislation for a similar scheme of commission fees for newspapers sites. Editors claim the search engine is benefiting from advertising opportunities that are being lost to their sites. |
| Last month a group of leading French newspaper publishers called on the government to adopt a law that would force search engines to pay copyright fees for links in their results. For example, if a Google search about the French president, François Hollande, returned a list of articles by the newspapers Le Figaro or Les Echos, Google would have to pay a commission fee for displaying those links. | Last month a group of leading French newspaper publishers called on the government to adopt a law that would force search engines to pay copyright fees for links in their results. For example, if a Google search about the French president, François Hollande, returned a list of articles by the newspapers Le Figaro or Les Echos, Google would have to pay a commission fee for displaying those links. |
| Google executives met government representatives in Paris on Friday. In a letter to ministers obtained by Agence France Presse, Google said such a law would "threaten its very existence", and it would be forced to stop referencing any French media at all. | Google executives met government representatives in Paris on Friday. In a letter to ministers obtained by Agence France Presse, Google said such a law would "threaten its very existence", and it would be forced to stop referencing any French media at all. |
| The letter, later published on Google's Europe blog, said the search engine redirected 4bn clicks a month to French media sites. It said making search engines pay for directing people to news websites was like "asking a taxi driver to pay for taking a customer to a restaurant". It said the proposed law would limit people's access to information. | The letter, later published on Google's Europe blog, said the search engine redirected 4bn clicks a month to French media sites. It said making search engines pay for directing people to news websites was like "asking a taxi driver to pay for taking a customer to a restaurant". It said the proposed law would limit people's access to information. |
| Aurelie Filippetti, the French culture minister, who is in favour of measures to help the struggling French media, questioned the tone of Google's letter. "You don't deal with a democratically elected government with threats," she told Agence France Presse. | Aurelie Filippetti, the French culture minister, who is in favour of measures to help the struggling French media, questioned the tone of Google's letter. "You don't deal with a democratically elected government with threats," she told Agence France Presse. |
| In an editorial, Laurent Joffrin, editor of the news weekly Le Nouvel Observateur, accused Google of "straightforward blackmail" of the government and likened the company to a modern-day feudal lord. | In an editorial, Laurent Joffrin, editor of the news weekly Le Nouvel Observateur, accused Google of "straightforward blackmail" of the government and likened the company to a modern-day feudal lord. |
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| French newspaper publishers have called on the government to make search engines pay to link to their content | French newspaper publishers have called on the government to make search engines pay to link to their content |
| Google is in a showdown with the French government over proposals to make search engines pay a charge for each link to French newspaper content. | Google is in a showdown with the French government over proposals to make search engines pay a charge for each link to French newspaper content. |
| Google is threatening to exclude French media sites from its search results if Paris goes ahead with the plan for such sites to receive a commission fee each time they are referenced. | Google is threatening to exclude French media sites from its search results if Paris goes ahead with the plan for such sites to receive a commission fee each time they are referenced. |
| It is the latest in a series of confrontations between the US company and European governments. This year German politicians examined draft legislation for a similar scheme of commission fees for newspapers sites. Editors claim the search engine is benefiting from advertising opportunities that are being lost to their sites. | It is the latest in a series of confrontations between the US company and European governments. This year German politicians examined draft legislation for a similar scheme of commission fees for newspapers sites. Editors claim the search engine is benefiting from advertising opportunities that are being lost to their sites. |
| Last month a group of leading French newspaper publishers called on the government to adopt a law that would force search engines to pay copyright fees for links in their results. For example, if a Google search about the French president, François Hollande, returned a list of articles by the newspapers Le Figaro or Les Echos, Google would have to pay a commission fee for displaying those links. | Last month a group of leading French newspaper publishers called on the government to adopt a law that would force search engines to pay copyright fees for links in their results. For example, if a Google search about the French president, François Hollande, returned a list of articles by the newspapers Le Figaro or Les Echos, Google would have to pay a commission fee for displaying those links. |
| Google executives met government representatives in Paris on Friday. In a letter to ministers obtained by Agence France Presse, Google said such a law would "threaten its very existence", and it would be forced to stop referencing any French media at all. | Google executives met government representatives in Paris on Friday. In a letter to ministers obtained by Agence France Presse, Google said such a law would "threaten its very existence", and it would be forced to stop referencing any French media at all. |
| The letter, later published on Google's Europe blog, said the search engine redirected 4bn clicks a month to French media sites. It said making search engines pay for directing people to news websites was like "asking a taxi driver to pay for taking a customer to a restaurant". It said the proposed law would limit people's access to information. | The letter, later published on Google's Europe blog, said the search engine redirected 4bn clicks a month to French media sites. It said making search engines pay for directing people to news websites was like "asking a taxi driver to pay for taking a customer to a restaurant". It said the proposed law would limit people's access to information. |
| Aurelie Filippetti, the French culture minister, who is in favour of measures to help the struggling French media, questioned the tone of Google's letter. "You don't deal with a democratically elected government with threats," she told Agence France Presse. | Aurelie Filippetti, the French culture minister, who is in favour of measures to help the struggling French media, questioned the tone of Google's letter. "You don't deal with a democratically elected government with threats," she told Agence France Presse. |
| In an editorial, Laurent Joffrin, editor of the news weekly Le Nouvel Observateur, accused Google of "straightforward blackmail" of the government and likened the company to a modern-day feudal lord. | In an editorial, Laurent Joffrin, editor of the news weekly Le Nouvel Observateur, accused Google of "straightforward blackmail" of the government and likened the company to a modern-day feudal lord. |