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French publisher sues Google; specifies damages
September 28, 2009 | 10:17 am
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By Paul Biba
While we reported news of the suit earlier, this is the first time that the actual damages have been specified. More details here.
French group La Martinière has become the first publisher worldwide to sue Google in court, demanding €15m (£13.8m) in damages for copyrighted books digitised by the search engine without permission.
The publisher is also seeking a penalty of €100,000 per day, and €3m for prejudice to its image. The trial opened in France on 24th September and a ruling is expected by 18th December at the latest.
La Martinière, which is backed by French publishers association Syndicat National de l’Edition (SNE) and the French Writers Union, Syndicat des Gens de Lettres, (SGDL) estimates that the search engine has illegally digitised between 6,000 and 9,000 of its titles.
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Comments:
I wouldn’t take it seriously… anyway, they are French…
I would take this seriously. For good and bad, the French take artists, including writers, much more seriously than we do here in the more business-oriented states. I wouldn’t want to be among the Google lawyers appearing before a French court.
It’s hard to feel sorry for Google in this matter. The extension of book copyrights to digital media isn’t that different from its early extension to movie rights and the like. If they’re really wanted to stay legal rather than define by fiat what is legal, they could have come up with a test case involving a single book rather than millions. Then a lost wouldn’t be that expensive and the legality would have been settled.
I would take this seriously. For good and bad, the French take artists, including writers, much more seriously than we do here in the more business-oriented states. I wouldn’t want to be among the Google lawyers appearing before a French court.
It’s hard to feel sorry for Google in this matter. The extension of book copyrights to digital media isn’t that different from its early extension to movie rights and the like. If they’re really wanted to stay legal rather than define by fiat what is legal, they could have come up with a test case involving a single book rather than millions. Then a lost wouldn’t be that expensive and the legality would have been settled.
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