Meta Platforms on 12th May lost its fight against an Italian regulatory order that it should compensate ​publishers for using snippets of their news articles after Europe’s ‌top court sided with the Italian telecoms watchdog. 

The case reflects the controversy between publishers and creators and artificial intelligence training companies over the use of newspaper articles or authors’ text for AI training that has led to lawsuits against companies such as Meta, OpenAI and Anthropic for copyright infringement.

The Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that a right to fair compensation for a publisher is compatible with EU law as long as the remuneration is a consideration for granting Publishers’ authorisations online.

The case has gone to the Court following an appeal by Meta against the decision of the Italian communications authority, AGCOM, granting jurisdiction to determine the compensation that platforms should pay for using press articles.

Such national measures would be incompatible with rights already granted to publishers “under EU copyright law,” Meta said. The subsequent request for guidance from an Italian court to the CJEU took place.

A spokesperson for the company told AFP that “it will be taken up in its entirety and discussed constructively as the case moves back to the Italian courts.”

The European Publishers Council said the court ruling was good ​for the journalism ​and news industries.

“This ⁠important ruling will pave the way for fairer negotiations with gatekeepers which have been abusing their dominance by refusing ​to negotiate in good faith. Quality journalism depends on ​the ability ⁠of publishers to recoup the investments required to produce trusted news and information,” said Angela Mills Wade, executive director at the European Publishers Council.

This goal is not only economically legitimate, but “also very much related to media freedom and pluralism in democratic societies,” she added.