This bill is the first transcription, in national legislation, of Article 15 (ex-11) of the European Copyright Directive, approved at the end of March in the European Parliament.

Parliament finally adopted Tuesday the introduction of a "neighboring right" to copyright for publishers and news agencies, a reform designed to rebalance their relationship with digital giants such as Google or Facebook.

This bill, passed by 81 votes to one, by a final vote of the Assembly, is the first transcription, in national legislation, of Article 15 (ex-11) of the European directive on the right to author approved at the end of March at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Text excludes "hyperlinks" and isolated words

The creation of a "neighboring right" should allow the media, such as Agence France-Presse (AFP), to be better paid when online reuse of their production by aggregators of information, such as Google News or social networks, like Facebook.

However, the adopted text excludes "hyperlinks and isolated words and very short excerpts from a press publication" from the scope of the protection of neighboring rights, the duration of which is set at two years, in accordance with the European directive .

Upcoming negotiations on compensation arrangements

The adoption of this bill, initiated by Senator David Assouline (PS), paves the way for negotiations on, among other things, the basis and modalities of remuneration or the choice of the company responsible for collecting and fund management.

"The amount of the remuneration (...) will have to take into account elements such as the human, material and financial investments made" by the publishers and agencies, as well as "their contribution to the political and general information", specifies the text that intends to favor quality rather than audience.

Professional journalists and other authors of published works (including photographs and videograms) will also be entitled to "an appropriate and fair share of the remuneration," says the bill.