As part of a new agreement on the use of online press stories, Google has agreed to pay 121 French publishers $76 million across three years.

Last month French publishers represented by the Alliance de la Presse d'Information Générale (APIG) signed an agreement with Google France relating to the use of their digital news stories.

The deal covers remuneration under French law and seeks to address EU copyright laws.

Remuneration will be based on criteria such as contribution to political and general information, the daily volume of publications, or the monthly internet audience.

According to Reuters, which first reported the news, the move has angered other French news outlets, who have described the deal as ‘unfair.’

Agence France-Presse (AFP), alongside other French-based news providers that are not involved in the new deal, are moving ahead with various actions against the tech giant, the news agency reported.

Documents seen by Reuters include a framework agreement in which Google will pay $22 million annually for three years to a group of 121 national and local French news publications after signing individual licensing agreements with each.

Another document shows that Google has agreed to pay $10 million to the same group in exchange for the publishers’ commitment not to sue over copyright claims for three years.

As part of the agreement, French publishers involved in the deal will need to commit to Google’s News Showcase, a licensing programme that pays publishers to curate content for story panels across Google services.

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