Google told to remove Belgian site contents from their site

Google told to remove Belgian site contents from their site

Search engine giant Google has lost a lawsuit filed by Belgian newspapers. The newspaper companies had demanded that Google remove headlines and links to articles posted on its Google News web service without their permissions.

This ruling if not dismissed on further appealing can in future set a precedent for how Web services could link to copyrighted material hosted on other web sites.

Google has claimed that its Google News service was “entirely legal” and they are going to appeal. They are also saying that the ruling is not going to set any precedent.

The Brussels Court of First Instance said in the ruling that the search engine company could not rely on exemptions, such as claiming “fair use”. This is because they review press articles when it displays headlines, a few lines of text, photos and links to the original page.

The ruling further said: “Google is reproducing and publishing works protected by copyright. Google cannot call on any exceptions set out by law relating to copyright or similar rights.” Yoram Elkaim, legal counsel for Google News responded in a statement: “This ruling does not mean that everywhere else or every other judge in any other country would rule in the same, even in Belgium. There are conflicting rulings on those issues which are fairly new and complicated.”