Google Books reaches agreement with French publishers

Yesterday, June 11, Google Books and the French National Publishers Association - a group of book publishers - reached an agreement in the long-term dispute over the scanning of out-of-print books. French publishers and authors will drop their lawsuits and Google will come up with a "framework agreement", which contains guidelines for the digitalization of out-of-print books. Publishers can choose whether or not they want to sign the agreement. The details of the agreement are yet unknown.

After a French judge ruled that Google infringed French copyright laws in 2009, Google reached deals with the leading French publishers Hachatte Livre and La Martinière already in 2011. The current agreement with the National Publishers Association is the next step in settling the long dispute.

Not only France is having issues with Google Books. At the moment, there is a dispute between The Authors Guild and Google before court in the United States. The U.S. judge hasn't decided yet whether Google is liable for copyright infringement or not. In the Netherlands, The National Library of the Netherlands closed a deal with Google Books in 2011.

Read more about copyright questions around Google Books on FutureOfCopyright.c

• Google Books closes deal with France’s largest publisher
• Google Books reaches deal with French publisher La Martinière
• Authors sue Google Books for copyright infringement in class-action lawsuit

Source: Washington Post

By Marjolein van der Heide