Source: European Federation of Journalists

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ordered Meta to compensate Italian publishers for the use of their content and confirmed that EU copyright law allows Member States to establish mechanisms ensuring fair remuneration for online use of press publications. The judgement arises from a dispute between Meta and Italy’s media regulator AGCOM concerning how EU rules on press publishers’ rights were transposed into Italian law, and it affirms that regulatory oversight of negotiations between platforms and publishers is consistent with the Directive adopted in 2019.

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomed the ruling and highlighted the Court’s emphasis on meaningful transparency in determining fair remuneration and its condemnation of unfair practices such as reducing news visibility while remuneration talks continue. EFJ spokespeople — including Charlotte Michils and Maja Sever — stressed that the decision matters for the sustainability of the publishing sector, for journalists’ share of revenues, and is directly relevant to debates around artificial intelligence training, automated summaries and AI-generated news; the EFJ also urged the European Commission, Member States, platforms and publishers to ensure strong enforcement, fair negotiations and transparent distribution of revenues to journalists.