The bill does not introduce any changes in the IP law. i.e. no creation of a new neighbouring right as has happened in Germany to the benefit of publishers whose content is re-used in Google News. Instead, the existing collection scheme used for reprography would be extended to images. Selected French collecting societies representing visual authors and rights holders would be able to make agreements with search engines (called “publishers” in the bill).
The system would only apply in France for services addressed to French users. How foreign authors would be dealt with is not mentioned. In any case, a source of income on the re-use of images by Google Images (or for that matter all other image search engines) would be created.
While the framework of the bill is clear, the details are not. The discussions which will take place in the French Senate will be very interresting to follow and shade light on these details.
- LINK to the Bill (in French)
