French Publisher Association reached an agreement with Google on out-of-commerce works

Reportedly, the French Publishers Association and the Société des Gens de Lettres dropped lawsuits in which they claimed that Google’s book scanning in France violated copyright. Under the agreement reached now, French publishers would be able to offer digital versions of their works for Google to sell. The deal is supposed to be modelled on previous agreements between Google and Hachette Livre / La Martinière. See further information here.

 

According to the recent article, the agreement is not binding on French publishers, which retain the right to exclude their books from Google. Google said it planned to make the books available from its digital content store, Google Play, which has not yet been introduced in France. Publishers would also be free to sell the books elsewhere. In addition, as part of the arrangement, Google should support a programme to encourage reading among children. 

 

The French Parliament recently passed a law on out-of-commerce works.