To tackle this, the European Union created a form of copyright called “neighbouring rights” that allows print media to demand compensation for using their content.
France has been a test case for the rules and after initial resistance, Google and Facebook both agreed to pay some French media for articles shown in web searches.
Google and SEPM have been negotiating over neighbouring rights for several years.
The Paris court on Wednesday ordered US-based Google LLC, Google Ireland and Google France “to not proceed to test” the reported scheme, or risk a fine of “€300,000 (NZ$539,000) euros each”, according to the court order seen by AFP.
SEPM, which groups 80 media groups, welcomed the order, which it said would “preserve the interests of the French press”.
Google said it was “surprised” by SEPM’s stance, saying it was seeking to collect data because “independent administrative authorities and press publishers have asked us for more information on the impact of the display of news content in our search engine.”
© Agence France-Presse