Two groups representing French authors and publishers have dropped their lawsuits against Google, clearing the way for the Californian company to digitise out-of-print books in the country.
The groups sued Google for copyright violations in 2006. But now the company has revealed that French Publishers Association (Syndicat national de l’édition) and the French Author’s Association (Société des gens de lettres) have withdrawn their law suits.
Google is involved in similar litigation in the US. Although it reached an agreement with the American Author’s Guild and Association of American Publishers in 2008, a US District court in New York last year rejected the agreement.
Philippe Colombet, strategic partner development manager of Google Books France, described the French deal as a “win-win solution”. He added: “Publishers and authors retain control over the commercial use of their books – while at the same time, opening the possibility for out-of-print books to reach a wide audience.”