Meta has lost its appeals in France over interim measures imposed in a dispute about payments to press publishers, after the Paris Court of Appeal rejected the company’s challenges on Thursday. The ruling leaves in place measures set by France’s competition authority, which had ordered Meta to resume talks with media organisations and to meet conditions linked to the use of their content. The case concerns so-called neighbouring rights, the payments that publishers seek when their material is used online.
What the court decided
The court said Meta’s practices, specifically the methods used to determine amounts payable as neighbouring rights to press publishers, may constitute abuse of a dominant position. That conduct, the court said, is prohibited under European and French competition law. The wording matters: the court described a possible abuse, not a final finding that abuse has been proven.
The interim measures at the centre of the appeals were issued in July by France’s competition authority. They required Meta to resume negotiations with press organisations, to provide information about platform revenue and the use of protected content, and not to degrade the display of press content. Those obligations therefore remain in force while the underlying dispute continues.
How the dispute reached the court
Neighbouring rights give print media a legal basis to seek payment for the digital use of their content, and France has enforced that framework strictly. The system recognises the investment in producing journalism, rather than treating news material as freely available to large online platforms. For publishers, the amounts involved can affect newsroom budgets and long-term sustainability.
A previous agreement between Meta and French press organisations on the amounts payable expired in 2024, and the two sides failed to reach a new deal. French media have received no payment since 2025, leaving publishers without the income they had previously received under the earlier arrangement. Press associations then approached the competition authority for interim protection.
Meta appealed against the authority’s two interim measures in August, challenging the conditions imposed while negotiations continued. The Paris Court of Appeal rejected those appeals on Thursday, 29 October, without resolving what fair payment should be. The focus now returns to the talks the interim measures were designed to restart.
What Meta and publishers said
A Meta spokesperson said the company was disappointed by the decision and was assessing its next steps. The spokesperson said Meta would continue to comply with the interim measures and to negotiate in good faith, and expressed hope that publishers would do the same. The response signals continued engagement, even as Meta weighs whether any further legal options remain open.
The decision was welcomed by DVP, a media association whose members include Le Monde and Les Echos. Its chairman, Jean-Marie Cavada, said DVP would continue to defend the interests of its members. For the association, the ruling preserves a regulatory framework for talks that had stalled, rather than settling the commercial terms themselves.
Why It Matters
The immediate effect is practical: Meta must keep negotiating under conditions set by the regulator, with information-sharing and display obligations attached. That changes the balance of the talks, because publishers are no longer negotiating only with a platform that can set the pace and terms alone. A structured process, backed by interim measures, gives their claims a formal route forward.
The case also carries a wider signal for Europe, where neighbouring rights remain contested and unevenly applied. A court accepting that a platform’s payment methods may amount to an abuse of dominance could encourage other publishers to test similar arguments. Platforms, meanwhile, will watch closely for any guidance on how payment amounts should be calculated and justified.
Background
The French dispute is part of a longer effort by publishers to secure payment for online use of journalism, an effort that has produced agreements, disputes and regulatory intervention across Europe since neighbouring rights were strengthened in EU law, and France has become a closely watched test of how those rights work in practice.
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