Google Gets Sued, The Path to Skynet Slowed

By Jake Guidry in News on Dec 18, 2009 8:40PM

A Paris court ruled today that Google is in clear violation of French law due to its book-scanning policy that includes hundreds of thousands of books in a digital, searchable format, many of which are under copyright. The ruling called for Google to be fined $14,300 a day until excerpts from the French publishers are removed from their database. Google was also ordered to pay $430,000 in damages and interest to French publisher La Martiniere, which originally brought the case to court. Google plans to appeal the decision.

The ruling puts Google on the wrong side of luck, a side they have rarely seen. However, it's difficult to argue that Google isn't wrong on the matter, and while the fines are chump change by their standards, many publishers and libraries alike are to sure to be happy that the company's expansion into the industry will be slowed. "It shows Google that they are not the kings of the world and they can't do whatever they want," said Serge Eyrolles, president of France's Syndicat National de l'Edition. A whopping 80 percent of the 100,000 French books Google has scanned are under copyright. Eyrolles said French publishers are still interested in working with Google on putting books in a digital format, "but only if they stop playing around with us and start respecting intellectual property rights."

Google's Philippe Colombet, who heads the book scanning project in France, feels they are complying with copyright standards and that removing the French books is a bad idea. "French readers now face the threat of losing access to a significant body of knowledge and falling behind the rest of Internet users," said Colombet, adding, "We believe that 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."

When asked if Google would remove the books from its database, Colombet said, "We are going to study the judgment carefully over the coming days."