France rules Google must pay for news content + Pakistan challenges India’s application for Basmati’s Geographical Indication in the EU

Good morning everyone. Hope you all had a relaxing weekend. For this week’s weekly news:

France rules Google must pay for news content

The cour d’appel de Paris on appeal confirms that Google will have to negotiate with newspaper publishers, following recognition of the “press publishers' right” in the new Copyright Directive. This confirms the previous ruling by the French competition authority establishing that Google had to start negotiating, with press publishers that require it, the remuneration due to the use of the protected content. Remuneration should be determined based on transparent, objective and non-discriminatory criteria. Google will now be obliged to pay 20,000 euros to each of the press publishers involved in the dispute: Alliance de la presse d’information Générale (Apig), Syndicat des éditeurs de la presse magazine (SEPM) and AFP.

France was the first Member State to implement the new press publishers' right recognised by Copyright Directive 2019/790. Most Member States still have to implement the Directive, but this decision might influence Google’s general behaviour.

Pakistan challenges India’s application for Basmati’s Geographical Indication in the EU

India has filed an application in the EU to have Basmati Rice protected as a GI. As such, the application defines Basmati rice as a special long grain aromatic rice grown in a particular geographical region of the Indian sub-continent. Pakistan considers that India has falsely claimed Basmati rice has having an Indian origin even though the same rice is largely produced in Pakistan. Hence, Pakistan is preparing to oppose this application in the EU (once the application is published, an opposition period begins). We will keep an eye on this and update you as soon as possible.

This is all for today. You can expect our monthly blog post this Thursday.

Interesting readings:

• The Fashion Law – 5 things startups should consider when it comes to their trademark strategy - https://www.thefashionlaw.com/5-things-startups-should-consider-when-it-comes-to-their-trademark-strategy/
• The Fashion Law – British Fashion brands will face at least one major change in protecting their designs post-Brexit - https://www.thefashionlaw.com/british-fashion-brands-will-face-at-least-one-major-change-in-protecting-their-designs-post-brexit/