Google publishing plans under fire from French
Thursday, 19 November 2009 19:00French book publishers have given a hostile reception to new proposals by internet giant Google to clear the way for millions of books to be sold online.
The proposals 'do not mark any progress on the essential question of non-English language works pirated by Google,' said a statement by the Publisher's Association (SNE), which groups most of France's publishers.
'The SNE is maintaining its position by asking Google to respect the essential principle of prior consent by authors and publishers for use of their works,' it said.
The SNE noted that it has an ongoing court case against Google, seeking compensation from the US company which it accuses of counterfeiting French books by digitising them and posting them online.
The Federation of European Publishers on Monday gave a cautious welcome to Google's new proposals.
Last Friday, Google and US authors and publishers submitted a revised settlement to a US judge seeking approval of an agreement that would let Google sell millions of books online.
