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The noose tightens on Google. The Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris for the publishers who complain in Mountain View to feed without authorization platform Books.

Google has been convicted of forgery for having reproduced without permission of book excerpts on its platform Google Books. The Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris condemned the Friday, December 18, the Mountain View company to pay 300 000 euros in damages to various editors. A lesser evil face of 15 million euros demanded by the plaintiffs.

"While Google has committed acts of infringement of copyright to the prejudice of Editions du Seuil, Delachaux & Niestlé and Harry N. Abrams, "the court said. This includes all editions La Martiniere and the National Union of Publishing and the Society of Men of Letters. The court therefore did not accept the argument that Google presents its platform as a research tool which offers excerpts from books and not as a collection of documents.

The French publishers have therefore scored one point in their battle against Google. They particularly criticized the U.S. company to digitize and post online content without signed operating agreements with rights holders. This situation is not exclusive to France. Last November, faced with the sling of American publishers, Google signed a new agreement that strengthens the rights of publishers and authors from across the Atlantic.

The publisher of the first global search engine also faces similar troubles in Germany. Zypries, Minister of Justice in Germany, has particular complaint to the U.S. justice methods Google. She also believes that Mountain View violates international treaties such as the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The French condemnation of Google may lead to accelerate the search for a solution with publishers in France. The fact remains that the court decision falls ill for Google at a time when the Ministry of Culture examines the strategy to adopt towards the digitization of libraries of France, beginning with the BNF . Google, however, should appeal the decision.