Source: Global Banking & Finance Review

Advocate General Maciej Szpunar has expressed the view that Google’s Gemini could infringe press publishers’ rights in certain circumstances when using news articles to answer users’ questions. The opinion concerns litigation involving Hungarian website operator Like Company and Google before the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg. Szpunar examined a chatbot’s retrieval of a publisher’s article, reuse of that article to produce an answer, and delivery of the answer to a user. The reported opinion distinguishes the facts contained in news coverage from the particular expression used to communicate those facts. Szpunar’s opinion is nonbinding and does not constitute a final judgment against Google. The report says the court is expected to deliver its ruling in the coming months.

The dispute reflects publishers’ concerns that AI services use journalism without compensation that publishers consider adequate. According to the report, those concerns have also prompted complaints to EU and national competition regulators. The report presents possible payment obligations for Google as a potential consequence of an adverse ruling, rather than an existing requirement established in this case. Google maintains that Gemini generates original responses by learning linguistic patterns and offers controls enabling publishers to opt out. European Publishers Council executive director Angela Mills Wade argues that permission for search indexing should be distinguished from authorisation for AI answers that replace original reporting. Mills Wade also argues that publishers should be able to protect their content without sacrificing visibility in Google search.