Google inks deal on payment of French media links

PARIS Feb 1 (Reuters) - Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and French President Francois Hollande signed on Friday a deal on payment of media links, a Reuters journalist present at the signing said.

Publishers in France and Germany argue that Google should pay them copyright licensing fees for listing headlines and snippets of articles in its search engine results.

Hollande has said that without a deal, legislation would be drafted to ensure that media outlets receive payment from search engines that post links to their content.

No details of the deal were immediately available.