Major tech companies challenge Belgium's creator compensation law at the EU court.

      Google, Meta, Spotify, and Sony have brought Belgium before Europe’s top court, arguing that the country's copyright law requires platforms to compensate creators far more than what the EU intended. On Tuesday, these major tech companies petitioned the EU’s Court of Justice to restrict Belgium's approach, claiming the nation has altered the payment structure for news, music, and video shared online, according to Courthouse News.

      Belgium, backed by several EU governments, asserts that the law simply provides publishers and artists with a more equitable share. The court now faces a key question: Did Belgium accurately implement the EU's 2019 copyright directive, or did it rewrite it?

      Belgium has made additional provisions to the directive, which was designed to help publishers and creators gain more value from their works online. Belgium's amendments include mandatory negotiations, disclosure obligations, and new compulsory payments for certain creators. The four companies contend that these additions exceed what EU lawmakers sanctioned.

      Google claims the law disrupts the balance established by the directive. It recently faced a record fine of €4.1 billion from the EU, which it is appealing. A lawyer representing Google informed the court that Google Search holds over 1,500 licensing agreements covering more than 5,500 news outlets, while YouTube compensates music companies and creators as well. According to Google, Belgium's system imposes compulsory payment negotiations and requires sensitive business information before a platform can demonstrate that it utilized the content. The requests for information originate from unexpected sources, including plumbing trade associations, gaming sites, podcast providers, and real estate listings. “This places online service providers in a dilemma,” lawyer Olivier Vrins stated in court.

      Meta raised a different concern, arguing that the Belgian law blurs the distinction between content-hosting platforms and content-producing publishers. They asserted that Facebook does not determine which stories are displayed; rather, it is up to the users. “If not, every online platform would essentially become a user of the content uploaded by its users,” lawyer Benoit Van Asbroeck mentioned to the court.

      Spotify and Sony criticized another aspect of the law. Belgium grants authors and performers a mandatory top-up right, even after they have licensed their work through labels and collecting societies. The two companies cautioned that this could lead to platforms being charged multiple times for the same stream.

      The implications of this case extend beyond Belgium. The court's decision will clarify the extent to which any member state can establish stricter regulations than those set by Brussels. Advocate General Maciej Szpunar is set to provide his opinion on November 19, with a final ruling to follow. The outcome will influence the pricing of content for all publishers and platforms across Europe.