Chinese Novelist Sues Google for Copyright Infringement

Posted on December 17, 2009

The Financial Times reports that Google is being sued by a Chinese author whose book was scanned by the search giant as part of its global digitization process. The novelist has sued Google in a Chinese court on the grounds of copyright infringement.

The Financial Times says Mian Mian, a 39-year-old author, is suing Google for alleged copyright infringement. The author is demanding that Google apologize for scanning part of her novel. She also wants the scanned content deleted and Rmb60,000 ($8,800) in compensation.

She's suing Google for $8,800? Surely there were some zeros missing from that number? One would think the attorneys' fees alone would cost more than that. Unless, of course, someone in the government is behind the suit and she's a straw man (or woman). Google says it has deleted her novel from its database and is hopeful of winning the case. We can't imagine how much money Google is spending to defend a copyright case in China over one book, but we're sure it's costing the company a lot more than $8,800.

Google said it had taken the author's book offline and that it was "confident of a favourable outcome in this case". A third round of talks between the company and copyright associations is expected, it said.

Google also said in its statement, "Google Books is fully compliant with US and Chinese law. In China like everywhere else, if a book is in copyright we don't show more than a few snippets of text without the permission of the rights holder."