KUALA LUMPUR – Meta Platforms has lost its legal challenge against an Italian regulatory order requiring online platforms to compensate publishers for using snippets of their news content, after Europe’s highest court backed Italy’s telecommunications watchdog.
The decision by the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) comes as tensions escalate between publishers, content creators and technology firms over the use of copyrighted material, including news articles and literary works, particularly in the development and training of artificial intelligence systems.
According to Reuters, several major technology companies, including Meta, OpenAI and Anthropic, are currently facing legal scrutiny over alleged copyright violations linked to AI-related practices.
“The Court finds that a right to fair compensation for publishers is consistent with EU law, provided that such remuneration constitutes consideration for authorising their publications to be used online,” the CJEU said, as reported by Reuters.
The case reached the European court after Meta challenged the authority of Italy’s communications regulator, AGCOM, to determine the compensation online platforms should pay publishers for using press content.
Meta argued that such national measures were incompatible with rights already granted to publishers under existing EU copyright laws. An Italian court later sought guidance from the CJEU on the matter.
“We will review the decision in full and engage constructively as the matter returns to the Italian courts,” a Meta spokesperson said.
The European Publishers Council welcomed the ruling, describing it as a positive outcome for the journalism and news industries.
“This important ruling will pave the way for fairer negotiations with gatekeepers that have been abusing their dominance by refusing to negotiate in good faith. Quality journalism depends on the ability of publishers to recoup the investments required to produce trusted news and information,” the council said.
“The Court has recognised that this objective is not only economically legitimate, but also closely linked to media freedom and pluralism in democratic societies,” said Angela Mills Wade, executive director of the European Publishers Council. – May 14, 2026