by Search Copywriter
Y. Sulaiman
Y. Sulaiman
The saga between Google and Belgium's press reached a benchmark over the weekend as the world's leading search engine came to an agreement with Belgian copyright groups Sofam and Scam - two out of the five groups by which they are currently being sued. Sofam, which represents 3,700 Belgian photographers, and Scam, which stands for journalists, accused Google of copyright infringement based on the way the search engine's Google News service links to newspaper content.The agreement between Google, Sofam and Scam follows September's ruling by a court judge in Belgium which banned Google from linking to French and German language newspaper websites in the country. This came after a bitter legal wrangling with Copiepresse, a body which represents these newspapers in Belgium. The ruling also forced MSN to remove its website links to Belgian newspapers in October while provoking a renewed argument on whether traditional copyright laws should apply to internet search engines.
The three lawyers representing Google in the current case presented the court with an array of evidence in Google's favour. One lawyer claimed, "The freedom to disseminate news should not be curtailed by copyright," while another argued, "Overzealous protection of authors' rights could put a brake on the internet." The lawyers representing Belgian newspapers debunked these theories, with one making the assertion, "Google News is not a research tool but a cocktail of content".
Jessica Powell, a spokeswoman for Google, stated: "We reached an agreement with Sofam and Scam that will help us make extensive use of their content." While to some, it may seem that this deal indicates that the furore over copyright in Belgium is finally dying down, to others it suggests that Google may have paid the groups for their content - although Google have refused to comment on this.
However, the case clearly represents a widespread lack of knowledge across the world with regard to search engines and how they work. It seems evident to many that the removal of links to Belgian newspapers from Google News will engineer a dramatic drop in traffic for these publications. In fact, it seems possible that the agreement between Google, Sofam and Scam may have been reached by a simple explanation of the power of search engines and their importance in the modern world. This is, at present, speculation and details of how the deal was reached are yet to be released.
Although the settlement represents a step forward for Google's relationship with Belgium's newspapers, the fact remains that they are still being sued by three copyright groups. Following September's ruling, Copiepresse have already removed links to seventeen of the newspapers it represents. However, the decision over whether or not the injunction will be cancelled is only expected in early 2007.
