Google Faces Fines of 1 Million Euros per Day

The Mountain View Company has been convicted in a case of copyright violation in Belgium. Following the court's decision, Google will have to take down all media related materials published on its local news.google.be belonging to French and German newspapers in Belgium.

Belgian French and German press, represented by Copiepress, a local copyright management institution, have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the search giant. Consequently, the Mountain View Company risks financial penalties of 1 million euros a day if it fails to follow the courts indications and discontinue the reproducing of content from Belgian paper Le Soir, La Libre Belgique and La Derniere Heure and a suite of German newspapers. "We are asking for Google to pay and seek our authorization to use our content ... Google sells advertising and makes money on our content," stated Copiepress general secretary Margaret Boribon.

Google has not commented in any manner the situation. Google is familiar with the context, as its face-off with AFP is still without a concrete result. The most likely scenario involves an agreement with the newspapers represented by Copiepress, similar to the one between Google and the Associated Press.