'Tech giants must pay': Denmark steps into EU legal battle to protect media and democracy

Denmark officially steps into European Court of Justice (ECJ) to back Belgium in a landmark legal battle against a coalition of major tech giants, including Google, Meta, Spotify, Sony, and the Belgian streaming service Streamz.

The case centers on the interpretation of Article 15 of the EU’s Digital Single Market (DSM) Directive, which was designed to grant press publishers the right to claim remuneration when their content is utilized by online platforms.

The Culture Ministry said on Monday, the Danish government has filed a written intervention in the European Court of Justice's case pitting tech companies against Belgium's government, citing the potential impact of the case on the ‌rights of Danish media houses.

This comes as Streamz, Google, Meta, Spotify, and Sony filed a lawsuit against the Belgian government in 2023 as they believe that Belgium's implementation of Article 15 of the Digital Single Market (DSM) Directive undermines EU law concerning press publishers' rights.

The government has decided to intervene in the Streamz case, as it is known, in favour of Belgium and participate in the oral hearing on July 6-7.

Denmark will primarily focus on ensuring that Meta and other tech giants are held accountable for paying for newspaper articles or other content uploaded to their platforms.

According to the ministry, ‌a ruling in favour of Google, Spotify, Meta, Streamz and Sony could dilute press publishers' rights under the DSM directive.

At the oral hearing, Denmark will urge the ECJ to clearly define the scope of press publishers' rights, and the responsibility that tech giants have to pay the press publishers when the publishers' content appears on their platforms.

Denmark's Culture Minister Zenia Stampe said tech giants should not be allowed to use media content without paying for it.

"In the end, it hits the Danish media hard and damages our democracy," Stampe added.

In addition to the Streamz case, Denmark has also participated in the landmark European copyright lawsuit dealing with the legality of Google's training of artificial intelligence on press releases.