Google forced to print court ruling

Google.be now carries a 2,000 word copyright ruling

Google has been told to post a copyright ruling on its Belgian websites while it awaits an appeal decision. 

The search company had hoped that it would be allowed to waive the condition until its case had been reheard in November.

"Last week we asked the court to reconsider its position on the copyright aspect and we also requested that the requirements to post the ruling on our homepages be suspended," a Google spokeswoman told vnunet.com.

"The court agreed to reconsider its decision and that hearing will take place in November. However, it maintained the requirement that we post the initial ruling on our homepages."

Google must keep the 2,300 word judgment on its sites for five days or face a fine of €500,000 (£336,000) per day.

In August, Copiepresse took Google to court claiming a breach of copyright for a number of Belgian publications. 

Following the ruling this month, Google has removed the publishers represented by Copiepresse from its Google.be and Google News Belgium websites.