Antitrust launches investigation against Meta Platforms over alleged abuse of economic dependence with SIAE

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Yet another coup de theater in the story that pits the giant of Menlo Park’s social media against the former monopolist of Italian copyright. A little more than 24 hours from the meeting scheduled at the Ministry of Culture, the Antitrust has launched an investigation against Meta Platform, Meta Platforms Ireland, Meta Platforms Technologies Uk Limited and Facebook Italy to ascertain an alleged abuse of economic dependence. According to the Authority, Mark Zuckerberg’s company may in fact have unduly interrupted the negotiations for the stipulation of the license to use the musical rights on its platforms, abusing the economic dependence of Siae. Together with the preliminary investigation, the precautionary procedure was also launched.

An offer Siae could not refuse

According to the Competition and Market Authority, led by Roberto Rustichelli, the crux would be precisely the removal of musical content protected by Siae from its social platforms and the refusal to provide the Company with authors and publishers with the necessary information to carry out negotiations in full compliance with the principle of transparency and fairness. The Antitrust investigates the hypothesis that Meta could have abused the contractual imbalance from which it benefits, asking Siae to accept an inadequate economic offer, without however providing the appropriate information to evaluate its effective congruity. Said outside the technicalities: an offer she couldn’t refuse.

Hypotheses damage to consumers

Following the interruption of the negotiations, Meta eliminated the musical contents protected by Siae from the social platforms so that they were no longer usable by users. The Authority believes that the hypothesized abuse of economic dependence could have a significant impact on the protection of competition in the markets concerned and cause serious damage to consumers. Such conduct, reads a note, could not only significantly compress SIAE’s competitive capacity on the markets concerned, but also prevent the authors it represents – a significant part of those active in Italy – from reaching the increasingly broader category of users. using social platforms.

The crux of «co-signed» songs

Not to mention that Meta’s behavior could also have repercussions on the repertoire of authors protected by other collecting buts co-signatories of songs with Siae authors. In addition, the obstacle to accessing musical content on Meta’s platforms could also have negative effects for the remuneration of related rights of producers of musical works and all other legal positions protected under the law on the right to ‘author. Furthermore, these abusive practices could considerably limit the choice of consumers who would be deprived of the possibility of using the works protected by SIAE, an important component of the Italian and international musical offer.

Goal: ready to collaborate

Meta’s reply was not long in coming: «We are ready to collaborate in responding to the requests of the Competition and Market Guarantor Authority. Protecting the copyrights of composers and artists is an absolute priority for us, which is why we remain committed to reaching an agreement with SIAE that satisfies all parties”.