Exclusive: LVMH media unit refrains from lawsuit against Musk-owned X, sources say

PARIS, Feb 11 - The LVMH-owned newspaper group Les Echos-Le Parisien is not involved in a lawsuit against Elon Musk's X, despite previously stating they would join, according to a court official. Four media industry sources said the LVMH papers no longer plan to sue the platform. In November, Les Echos-Le Parisien and other French newspapers, including those owned by Le Monde and Le Figaro, announced they would file a lawsuit to urge X to pay for content currently visible on the social media platform without compensation. These fees are meant to keep journalistic content widely available on digital platforms while providing publishers with more financial stability, as required by the EU's copyright and related rights rules. Pursuing the lawsuit would have involved LVMH...New tab and its controlling shareholder and CEO, Bernard Arnault, would have faced off against Musk, the world's richest man and a key ally of former U.S. President Donald Trump. Arnault attended Trump's inauguration. Two sources said Les Echos-Le Parisien informed top executives at the other newspapers that it would not proceed with the lawsuit, without explaining the reason for this decision. "We did indeed make such a threat against X in the past. Other discussions have taken place since then," a spokesperson for Les Echos-Le Parisien said, without providing further details. LVMH declined to comment, and X's French lawyer also declined to comment. The three media groups jointly obtained a fast-track court order in May 2024 to require X to provide traffic data and advertising revenues, allowing the newspapers to evaluate compensation for their content. While Le Monde and Figaro jointly initiated the case a month ago, the LVMH unit was not involved in the proceedings, according to a Paris judicial court clerk who reviewed the filing. EU RULES Les Echos is France's leading daily business newspaper, and Le Parisien is a general news daily. In a November article published by Les Echos, Les Echos-Le Parisien CEO Pierre Louette stated that X, like any other platform that benefits from the paper's content, must adhere to EU copyright rules. "It's about safeguarding quality information, the very foundation of our democracy," he said.added. French publishers, including Les Echos-Le Parisien, won a similar case against Alphabet's Google before France's competition watchdog in 2021. They also reached an agreement with Meta on similar issues. "The law on related rights applies to everyone," Louette, who also chairs France's main newspaper publisher association, told Le Figaro in a recent interview. Last month, Les Echos-Le Parisien was part of a group of papers that announced a similar lawsuit against Microsoft's LinkedIn platform. A court date has not yet been announced. LVMH bought Les Echos in 2007 before acquiring the general news daily Le Parisien in 2015 as part of a broader expansion into the media landscape. Last year, LVMH took over Paris Match, a well-known weekly magazine covering politics, entertainment, and celebrities. The conglomerate also owns a French radio station. Bernard Arnault recently praised a "wind of optimism" he said was blowing through the U.S. following Trump's election and expressed support for Musk's role in the White House. Arnault suggested that France should follow the U.S. example and appoint someone to reduce bureaucracy.