Google Forced to Pay €300,000 Fine to French Pubs

By Siobhan O’Leary

As reported by the Associated Press (via the LA Times), a Paris court has ruled against Google in a copyright infringement case brought by French publisher La Martinière on behalf of itself and the French Publishers Association (FPA), representing 400 publishing companies. Google was ordered to pay €300,000 in damages to La Martinière for making excerpts of copyright-protected French books available online without permission from the publishers. On top of that, Google is expected to pay a €10,000 fine per day (the suit had asked for €500,000 per day) until all of the snippets of copyright-protected French books are removed from the web. Google plans to appeal the decision.

About the Author

Siobhan O'Leary

Siobhan O’Leary is a literary agent, translator and writer based in Berlin. She previously worked in the Foreign Rights department of the Crown Publishing Group (Random House) and at the publishing consulting firm Market Partners International.