July 03, 2007

Google appeals Copiepresse ruling

Two sides will ask the court for an extension while they continue their talks in copyright dispute

Google has scheduled an appeal for July 17 in its copyright dispute with Belgian newspaper publishers, although the two sides expect to request an extension while they try to resolve the conflict amicably, spokespeople for Google and the publishing group, Copiepresse, said on Tuesday.

The court's schedule required Google to file its appeal 10 days ago, otherwise a ruling against it from February would have become permanent. But there will be no appeals hearing as such this month, and the two sides will merely ask the court for an extension while they continue their talks, said Catherine Anciaux, a legal advisor for Copiepresse.

A Google spokeswoman concurred. "There will be no substantive hearing for several months," she said.

Copiepresse, the publishing group representing Le Soir, Le Libre Belgique and other Belgian newspapers, sued Google last August for copyright infringement, arguing that it profits unfairly by posting snippets of its members' news stories on Google's Web sites without paying for their use.

The Court of First Instance in Brussels sided with Copiepresse in September, ordering Google to remove the Belgian Web sites from Google News and its main search engines, which it did. The court reaffirmed its decision in February.

Google was also fined €25,000 ($34,000) for each day that it delayed removing the newspapers' content from its Web site. It has not yet paid any fines, which will be considered as part of the appeals process, the Google spokeswoman said.

The two sides clearly hope to settle the matter out of court, however. They reached an initial agreement in May that allowed Google to begin linking to the newspapers from its main search engine again, although it still cannot list them in Google News.

Google maintains that linking to the content is legal and provides a useful service for the general public and the newspapers, because it drives traffic to their sites. Copiepresse has said it wants to be included in Google News but that it should be compensated, by an advertising revenue sharing agreement or in some other way.



 

Close

On Twitter now

Security

Powered by Twitter

On Twitter now

White Paper

D2D Virtual Tape Library Replication Primer

This whitepaper explains the terminology and concepts behind Data Replication technologies and establishes some sizing rules through worked examples. Learn the new paradigm in disaster tolerance—protect data anywhere.

Download now »

White Paper

An Alternative to Virtualization for Datacenter Cost Savings

Server virtualization is a popular option for dealing with mounting datacenter costs. Another equally promising approach is the use of an Application Delivery Controller. Citrix NetScaler provides a low-cost way for organizations to reduce their server count and accrue cost savings from a reduction in space, cooling, power and personnel.

Download now »

White Paper

Why Your Firewall, VPN, and IEEE 802.11i Aren't Enough to Protect Your Network

The emergence of WLANs has created a new breed of security threats to enterprise networks.

Included in HP ProCurve WLAN solutions is security technology that alleviates threats from WLANs through:
* Monitoring wireless activity inside and out of the enterprise
* Classifying WLAN transmissions into harmful and harmless
* Preventing transmissions that pose a security threat to the enterprise network
* Locating participating devices for physical remediation

Download now »

White Paper

Bringing the Edge to the Data Center

Effectively address data protection challenges, implementing solutions that help store and protect business–critical data while cutting costs and improving efficiency and reliability.

Download now »

Sign up to receive Security Resource Alerts

Subscribe to the Security Central Newsletter

Stay informed of the latest security threats and fixes.

White paper

Log Management: How to Develop the Right Strategy for Business and Compliance

This white paper provides guidance on how to develop a strategic approach to managing and monitoring logs, a key function required for compliance with many regulatory mandates and a critical defense against security threats.

Download now! »

White paper

The Essential Series: Security Information Management

Learn about the processes and technologies that support security information management (SIM) operations, as well as the business case for SIM. The series examines different options for implementing SIM and gives you evaluation criteria for selecting the best option for your organization.

Download now! »

White paper

Aberdeen: Choosing and Consuming Managed Security Services

Learn the strategies, actions, and capabilities that Best-in-Class organizations employ and technologies they choose to obtain superior performance against various security performance metrics. This report provides guidelines for identifying which security solutions to consume as a MSS and defines best practices for choosing and managing MSSPs.

Download now! »
©1994-2009 Infoworld, Inc.