(MENAFN) Several French media outlets owned by billionaire Bernard Arnault have filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, accusing it of distributing their content without compensation. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, includes Les Echos and Le Parisien, both part of Arnault's LVMH luxury empire, and is supported by other French media outlets like Le Monde, Le Figaro, and the Huffington Post.

The companies claim X has violated "neighboring rights," which entitle media organizations to royalties from non-interactive digital services that distribute their content. In May, these outlets, along with Agence France-Presse, had asked a Paris court to force X to provide relevant commercial data, a request the court upheld. However, the media companies allege that X has failed to comply with the court's ruling, demonstrating an ongoing refusal to meet its legal obligations.

X has yet to officially respond to the lawsuit, but in March, the platform's lawyer argued that the site is not subject to neighboring rights, as the media content is shared by users rather than being directly published by X itself. Musk had previously criticized the demand, saying it was "bizarre" that media companies expected payment for content that drives traffic to their sites while they generate their own advertising revenue.

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