Facebook has to pay 3.83 million euros to developer for copying Nearby

An Italian court has ruled on appeal that Facebook must pay €3.83 million to Italian software developer Business Competence. The social network’s Nearby feature is said to be a copy of Faround, an app from that company.

The ruling confirms an earlier ruling from 2019, but the amount that Facebook has to pay to the Italian developer is now much higher. Initially, the compensation to be paid was set at 350,000 euros. Reuters has seen the new ruling and asked Facebook for a response. The social network says it is “carefully investigating.”

Facebook provided its mobile apps with the Nearby feature in 2012. That is a tab on which companies in the vicinity of the user are shown. Earlier that year, Business Competence released its Faround app, which allowed users to find their Facebook friends.

According to previous Reuters reports, the Faround app was released in Italy in September 2012, and the app quickly became popular. After Facebook added its Nearby feature to its app in December of that year, downloads plummeted.

In 2013, the Italian developer sued Facebook, claiming the Nearby function is “very similar” to Faround. An Italian judge ruled in favor of the developer in 2016, after which Facebook in Italy stopped using the Nearby feature, while the social network appealed the ruling.