Google and Hachette in landmark deal

Google and Hachette Livre have struck a groundbreaking deal allowing the world's second largest retail book publisher to control the scanning and electronic sale of its out-of-print French language titles.

The agreement, covering about 50,000 mostly forgotten works of French literature and non-fiction still under copyright, is unlikely to bring in big revenues for the French group, which is owned by Lagardère. But it is a symbolic victory for publishers around the world trying to protect their businesses against the encroachment on their territory of the Internet. Google and Hachette, France's leading publisher by sales, said on Wednesday they hoped their agreement would serve as a blueprint for other French publishers and for other countries, including Spain. Under the agreement, Hachette will decide which of its out-of-print titles it wants Google to scan and whether these should be available for sale or for search. This gives it more direct control in Google's book digitization project than English-language publishers would have under a proposed US settlement, which is still awaiting Department of Justice approval.