Italy is investigating allegations that a music rights company used its position to pressure other companies into paying more money.

Key Highlights :

1. Italy's antitrust authority is investigating Meta over the possible abuse of its position in talks over the rights to music posted on Meta's platforms, potentially hurting competition in the sector.

2. The dispute involved the Italian Society of Authors and Publishers, SIAE.

3. According to the antitrust regulator, Mark Zuckerberg's company may have "unduly interrupted the negotiations for the stipulation of the licence for the use on its platforms" of SIAE's music rights.

4. Meta interrupted talks for the renewal of expired contracts by eliminating SIAE-protected music content from its social platforms, but didn't provide the required information to SIAE to negotiate under the "principle of fairness and transparency."

5. Its conduct could hurt competition in the relevant markets and "cause serious damage to consumers," the regulator added.

     Italy's antitrust authority said on Wednesday it would investigate Meta Platform over the possible abuse of its position in talks over the rights to music posted on Meta's platforms and potentially hurting competition in the sector.

     The authority said it would investigate whether Meta had attempted to hinder competitors from participating in the talks, which would be a breach of antitrust law.

     The authority said it would also investigate whether Meta had abused its dominant market position by refusing to negotiate with other platforms.

     The authority said it had received complaints from platforms including Spotify and Deezer about the negotiations.

     The authority said it would present its findings to the European Commission by the end of the year.

Continue Reading at Source : news18