Europe’s wealthiest individual files lawsuit against Elon Musk’s X
French media, owned by Bernard Arnault, are accusing X of not compensating for the content shared on its platform. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
Several French media companies under billionaire Bernard Arnault have initiated legal action against Elon Musk’s social media platform X, alleging that the site is sharing their content without compensation.
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, involves Les Echos and Le Parisien, which are part of Arnault’s luxury group LVMH. This effort is backed by other prominent publications including Le Monde, Le Figaro, Telerama, Courrier International, Huffington Post, Malesherbes Publications, and Le Nouvel Obs.
According to Forbes, Arnault ranks as the wealthiest person in Europe and the fifth richest globally, with an estimated family net worth of $156 billion. In contrast, Musk, who also leads Tesla and SpaceX and has shown strong support for President-elect Donald Trump, is currently the world’s richest individual with a net worth of $308 billion.
The French media companies allege that X has breached “neighboring rights,” which pertain to royalties associated with broadcasting non-interactive digital services. Earlier in May, these outlets, along with Agence France-Presse, requested that a Paris court order X to disclose relevant commercial information, a request that was subsequently upheld by the court.
However, the newspapers have stated, as reported by the Daily Telegraph, that X has “not… complied” with the ruling, “thus demonstrating its invariable desire to evade its legal obligations.”
They further asserted, “The revenue from these rights… is a boost to the plurality, independence and quality of the media, which are essential for freedom of expression and the right to information in our democratic society.”
While X has not yet issued a statement regarding the lawsuit, the platform's attorney contended in March that the site is not liable for neighboring rights since the media content in question is posted by users, rather than the platform itself.
“This is bizarre. They want us to pay *them* for traffic to their site where they make advertising revenue and we don’t!?” Musk remarked in August 2023.
Mark B Thomas for TROIB News
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, involves Les Echos and Le Parisien, which are part of Arnault’s luxury group LVMH. This effort is backed by other prominent publications including Le Monde, Le Figaro, Telerama, Courrier International, Huffington Post, Malesherbes Publications, and Le Nouvel Obs.
According to Forbes, Arnault ranks as the wealthiest person in Europe and the fifth richest globally, with an estimated family net worth of $156 billion. In contrast, Musk, who also leads Tesla and SpaceX and has shown strong support for President-elect Donald Trump, is currently the world’s richest individual with a net worth of $308 billion.
The French media companies allege that X has breached “neighboring rights,” which pertain to royalties associated with broadcasting non-interactive digital services. Earlier in May, these outlets, along with Agence France-Presse, requested that a Paris court order X to disclose relevant commercial information, a request that was subsequently upheld by the court.
However, the newspapers have stated, as reported by the Daily Telegraph, that X has “not… complied” with the ruling, “thus demonstrating its invariable desire to evade its legal obligations.”
They further asserted, “The revenue from these rights… is a boost to the plurality, independence and quality of the media, which are essential for freedom of expression and the right to information in our democratic society.”
While X has not yet issued a statement regarding the lawsuit, the platform's attorney contended in March that the site is not liable for neighboring rights since the media content in question is posted by users, rather than the platform itself.
“This is bizarre. They want us to pay *them* for traffic to their site where they make advertising revenue and we don’t!?” Musk remarked in August 2023.
Mark B Thomas for TROIB News
