Paris court fines Google for copyright breaches

A Paris court has found Google guilty of four counts of copyright breach, ordering the Internet search giant to pay out hundreds of thousands of euros, court records seen Tuesday showed.

The appeal court action pitted Google France and Google Inc. on one side against film producers Mondovino, a photographer and some documentary makers.

The complainants argued that their works were appearing on line, via the Google search engine and sometimes directly on Google Video, despite their demands that such material be withdrawn.

In all four cases Google was condemned for "acts of breach of copyright".

The court, which handed down its ruling on Monday, ordered Google to pay a total of 430,000 euros ($598,000) in damages and interest to the plaintiffs on top of the legal costs.

Contacted by AFP, Google said it was considering an appeal.