3 Count: Google News News

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1: Google to Pay €3.2M Yearly Fee to German News Publishers

First off today, Ioanna Lykiardopoulou at The Next Web reports that Google has agreed to pay German news publishers €3.2 million ($3.37 million) per year for the right to continue publishing news content in their search engine.

The deal is part of an interim agreement between Google and Corint Media, a group that represents some 470 regional and national publishers in the country. The agreement also has Google paying €5.8 million ($6.2 million) to cover the period between June 2021 and March 2023.

However, the deal is only an interim one, with Germany’s Patent and Trademark Office set to make a final determination about the amount Google should pay. Corint had originally hoped for €420 million ($442 million) for news content used in 2022, and they are hoping that the government will award them a much higher amount.

2: VNG Freed from $572,000 Copyright Infringement Compensation

Next up today, Hai Duyen at VnExpress reports that Vietnamese tech company VNG will not have to pay VND14.3 billion ($572,713) for copyright infringement following a successful appeal of an earlier decision.

The lawsuit was filed by TK – L, who claimed that they held the exclusive rights to broadcast three films, The Story of Minglan, Princess Silver and Legend of the Phoenix in the country following an agreement signed with Sea Yeun Limited. They claimed VNG violated that exclusivity by broadcasting the films on their services.

Though an initial decision favored TK – L, the appeals court ruled that there was no proof that TK – L actually had an exclusive license. Sea Yuen Limited did not participate in the case and, according to the court, it’s unclear if they even could grant such an exclusive license. VNG has said that they are appealing the decision.

3: ACE Shuts Down Latin American Piracy Rings

Finally today, Chris Dziadul at Broadband TV News reports that the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) has shut down two Spanish-language piracy sites that, combined, drew an estimated 150 million monthly visits.

The two sites in question, Futbolparatodos.online and Pelisplus.Lat streamed a mixture of pirated sporting events and other video content. Futbolparatodos.online became particularly noteworthy as it was one of the most visited sports piracy sites in the world after the closure of Futbolibre in 2022.

The domains connected with the sites have been redirected to ACE’s “Watch Legally” site. ACE is an organization of both tech and media companies that are focused on reducing piracy globally.

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