French Publisher Sues Google Over Book Index

Google Inc. is being sued by French publisher La Martiniere for indexing some of the company’s titles on the Google Book Search website without permission.

La Martiniere, which controls Harry N. Abrams Inc. in the U.S., is fighting Google’s program to scan the content of books and let users search them.

“We disagree with their case, which we will contest in court,” Google said. “Google Book Search helps users find and buy books -- not read or download them for free.”