A group of legacy media outlets in France are suing Elon Musk’s X over its alleged failure to obey a European Union directive transcribed into the country’s law.
Le Monde, Le Figaro, Les Echos, Le Parisien, Télérama, Courrier International, Malesherbes Publications, Le Nouvel Obs, as well as the French version of the Huffington Post are all said to be involved in the lawsuit.
According to a report in Le Monde on November 12, the publications insist that X has violated the French interpretation of EU law surrounding so-called “neighbouring rights”.
Under a Brussels directive adjusting the bloc’s copyright law, news organisations are entitled to royalties from social media outlets should content be “republished” on their social platforms.
The media groups claimed that X had not paid them their dues and also that it had failed to provide them with the necessary data for assessing how much the social media platform owed.
According to Reuters, an injunction on the matter ordering X to hand over the data was issued earlier this year, but the internet giant had yet to comply.
“The revenue from these rights, with the investment that it would enable its beneficiaries to make, is a boost to the plurality, independence and quality of the media, which are essential for freedom of expression and the right to information in our democratic society,” a joint statement from the legacy media outlets claimed.
A court hearing on the matter is now reportedly scheduled for May 15, 2025.
Former French prime minister Gabriel Attal has appeared as himself in the teen drama series Askip in an episode focusing on school bullying. https://t.co/8IGuWrTo25
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 12, 2024
