Google ordered to stop digitising French books

Posted by Leah McBride Mensching on December 18, 2009 at 4:44 PM

Google has been fined €300,000 in damages and ordered to stop digitising books in France, MediaGuardian reported today. The online giant was found to have violated copyright law by scanning books and putting excerpts online, after French publishers challenged the practice.

The La Martiniere group, which publishes Editions du Seuil SAS, asked the Paris court to fine Google €15 million. Joining them in the lawsuit was authors' group SGDL and French publishers' association SNE. Google has said it will appeal the ruling.

"French readers now face the threat of losing access to a significant body of knowledge and falling behind the rest of Internet users," Philippe Colombet, director of development for Google Books in France, told Bloomberg in an e-mailed statement. "Displaying a limited number of short extracts from books complies with copyright legislation both in France and the U.S. - and improves access to books."

However, the court stated that Google had indeed "violated author copyright laws by fully reproducing and making accessible on the site" books owned by Editions du Seuil without the publisher's permission.

Google has a month to comply with the ruling, or it will receive additional fines. President Nicolas Sarkozy, meanwhile, announced on Monday that the French government will spend €750 million to digitise French books, according to Radio France Internationale.