French court rules against Google over book copying

PARIS Dec 18 (Reuters) - A Paris court on Friday found U.S. Internet giant Google (GOOG.O) guilty of violating copyright by digitising books and putting extracts online, following a legal challenge by major French publishers.

The court found against Google after the La Martiniere group, which controls the highbrow Editions du Seuil publishing house, argued that publishers and authors were losing out in the latest stage of the digital revolution.

La Martiniere, the French Publishers' Association and authors' groups SGDL argued that scanning books was an act of reproduction that should be paid for, and demanded the U.S. company be fined 15 million euros ($21.59 million). (Reporting by Sophie Hardach; editing by Georgina Prodhan)