A spat over licensing has momentarily lulled after Google agreed to pay German publishers 3.2 million euros ($3.38 million) a year. The payment is for publication of news content and has been agreed with Corint Media, which is an umbrella organisation representing Sat.1, RTL, Axel Springer and CNBC among other German and international outlets.
The agreement will stand whilst the German patent office (DPMA) makes a decision on remuneration for news outlets; and has stated that it hopes the decision will see a “significant increase” in the amount Google pays. In 2022, it had sought 420 million euros for the usage of news content. "The quasi-monopolist Google dictates prices, so the route via the courts is the only way to arrive at appropriate remuneration for the use of content," said Corint's managing director Christine Jury-Fischer.
Google said in a statement: "The payments to Corint Media are in line with what we have already agreed with 470 regional and national publications in Germany." These publications include Spiegel, FAZ and Zeit.
