BRUSSELS: A Belgian court has ordered Google Inc. to stop reproducing content from Belgian newspapers without authorization.
Copiepresse, a Belgian association of newspaper editors, which handles copyright matters for the French- and German-language press in Belgium, had sued the search company over use of content in the form of headlines and excerpts as well as photographs in Google News, directing the users to the sites of the concerned publications.
Under the court's ruling, issued on 5 September, Google will be required to pay a fine of one million euros daily if it did not comply by Monday, the association's general secretary Margaret Boribon said. She said individual newspapers will have to decide on fees for their articles separately.
Google said it is planning to appeal against the ruling. It has already removed the links to the newspapers from news.google.be and is in the process of taking them out from its news sites in other countries.
A spokesperson for the company maintained that Google News was "entirely consistent" with copyright law and news organizations benefited from the service by securing traffic. She said the Belgian newspapers need not have approached the court as Google itself removes the links upon request by the publications.
Google News service, launched in 2002, scans thousands of news outlets and displays the highlights under various categories. Such stories often carry thumbnail images along with the headline and the first sentence or two. Users can click on the headline and go to the source website to read the complete report.
The company has been sued in the U.S. by French news agency Agence France-Presse, claiming that Google is violating copyright laws. AFP is demanding at least $17.5 million in damages in U.S. district court in Washington, arguing that the service adds little value.
Google has concluded an arrangement with another news agency, Associated Press, for stories and photographs it would use in Google News. Google intends to use the AP content as the foundation for a new product to be launched soon to complement Google News.
