Google, AFP Agree on Content Deal
A spat between Agence France-Presse and Google over the use of news and photos on the Mountain View, Calif. search engine's news site has been settled, the companies said Friday.
Google was sued in March 2005 by AFP, which claimed that Google never obtained permission to link to use its content, and asked for $17.5 million in damages.
As part of the settlement, suits in both the United States and France would be withdrawn.
"The agreement will allow uses of AFP's content in ways that go beyond its typical use of content in Google's services, which features just headlines and snippets of text to provide just a taste of what an article offers," AFP CEO Pierre Louette said.
It was not immediately clear where else AFP's content would appear on the site as the company declined to elaborate further.
Friday's settlement is the second between the search engine and a news site. Google also settled with the Associated Press in August of last year to end a similar dispute. In both cases, financial terms were not disclosed.