Google and fair use

The French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) is suing Google for its popular news search engine and the way it pulls news information together. You can access online their complaint filed in the U.S District Court in Washington, D.C. AFP claims copyright infringement from Google’s reproduction of information from AFP’s subscribers and seeks at least $17.5 million in damages. France’s leader Jacques Chirac fanned the flames recently, making Google out to be an Anglo-American cultural threat of sorts, urging Europe to launch its own version of Google Scholar. Google has promised to remove the offending items, which may allow the court to skirt key issues. It’s possible the suit may impact how bloggers cull news reports. Law professor Eric Goldman provides a useful analysis here.
Others covering the suit: Mary Schwimmer, Ron Coleman, and Munir Umrani.