EU Court Rules Publishers Entitled to Pay for News Snippets

LUXEMBOURG — The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on Tuesday that publishers are entitled to fair compensation when online platforms use snippets of their news articles, upholding an order from Italy's communications authority against Meta Platforms.

The decision in case C-797/23, Meta Platforms Ireland, sided with Italy's AGCOM, which had required platforms to pay for displaying excerpts from press publications. Meta had challenged the regulator's authority to set such compensation rules, arguing they conflicted with existing rights under EU copyright law. An Italian court referred the matter to Europe's top court for a preliminary ruling.

"The Court finds that a right to fair compensation for publishers is consistent with EU law, provided that remuneration constitutes consideration for authorising their publications to be used online," the Luxembourg-based court stated.

The ruling stems from a broader dispute over how tech companies profit from journalistic content. Platforms like Facebook generate traffic and revenue from news previews, while publishers bear the costs of producing original reporting. The case returns to Italian courts for implementation.