Copyright Nonsense
by Paul McGoldrick

A court in Belgium has decided this week that Google is breaking that country's copyright laws by posting headlines and the first paragraph of items in newspapers published in Belgium.

The case was started by an umbrella copyright protection company, Copiepresse, whose tasks include protecting the country's French and Dutch language newspapers content. The court has decided that the extracts -- which a lot of us look at every day from one country or another -- is not fair use of copyright material and has set a fine of €25,000 (about USD32,500) per day for every day that the materials remain posted on Google's Belgian site.

It is highly unlikely that very many other countries would interpret their own copyright laws in the same way, but there is a general story here about the law and the Internet that needs to be explored. If Google continued to source French language Belgian newspapers and posted them only on Google France, that would not breach this court's decision. Similarly, if Google sourced Dutch language Belgian newspapers and posted them only on Google Netherlands, that would also not be covered by the court. Even thinking of this in such a parochial manner is idiotic where the Internet is concerned.

Instead, the newspapers should tap into their expanded audience: they should show to their advertisers that the extra exposure by Google News justifies rate increases!

If a newspaper, in any country, decides that it wants a web presence -- and, which would be foolish enough not to? -- they should realize that it is the most public place on the planet. They may, stupidly, want registration for visitors to enter their sites, but they need to treat the web product in the same way that they treat the printed product; they are not making money on subscriptions, they are making it on advertising.

Personally, if I was Google, I would get the big switch and just close the Belgian site and leave the courts in Belgium get on with chasing Yahoo for similar alleged offences. Chasing the Euro because you think you don't believe in fair use, and that you deserve your copyright exclusivity, totally, is not only bad for revenues, it is also bad for the impressions that people get about your business.