The text, voted on the night of Tuesday June 16 to Wednesday June 17, succeeds that of the National Assembly adopted in March.
Neighboring rights were established by a 2019 European directive, quickly transposed into French law. They allow newspapers, magazines and press agencies to be paid when their content is used by digital giants. The initial objective was to respond to the capture of advertising revenue by these platforms, to the detriment of traditional media.
According to a study published in January 2024 by the Ministry of Culture and the Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (Arcom), digital players will capture 65% of the advertising market in 2030, compared to 52% today. For rapporteur Michel Laugier (Centrist Union), “it has been proven that the effectiveness of this right remains imperfect”. He stressed to his colleagues that “the negotiations are unbalanced” and that “publishers lack the information necessary to evaluate their rights.”
Data access, control and sanctions
Supported by Erwan Balanant (MoDem), deputy for Finistère, the bill requires platforms to provide publishers with all data on the use of their content. The aim is to guarantee a negotiation in good faith. In the event of a breach, Arcom would obtain supervisory power. It could impose sanctions of up to 1% of the platforms’ global turnover.
The text also provides that in the absence of agreement on remuneration, Arcom may be contacted and set the amount itself. It would accept one of the parties’ proposals, or decide itself. In committee, the Senate adopted several amendments. One specifies that the appeal against the Arcom decision will be non-suspensive.
After the vote, the Minister of Culture, Catherine Pgard, supported the text and hoped that it would be completed quickly, after a joint committee responsible for bringing the two chambers together. Several speakers welcomed a ruling rendered in May by the Court of Justice of the European Union. This validates an Italian law providing the communications regulator with powers comparable to those targeted for Arcom.
Purpose and beneficiaries
The proposed law aims to better regulate the remuneration due under related rights. It rebalances negotiations considered unequal and guarantees access to content usage data. It concerns newspapers, magazines and press agencies whose content is exploited by digital giants.
