Brussels - A Belgian court has ruled against Google in a copyright case where Belgian newspapers accused the search giant of infringement for posting their news articles without permission, the Associated Press reported.

The Copiepresse coalition of Belgian newspapers complained that Google's cache offered free access to articles on their subscription-based sites, and that its Google News posted their content without permission.

Google said it will appeal the ruling.

"We believe that Google News is entirely legal," the company said in a statement. "We only ever show the headlines and a few snippets of text and small thumbnail images. If people want to read the entire story they have to click through to the newspaper's Web site."

The court also ordered Google to pay a fine of about $32,400 for each day it did not comply with the ruling, down from an earlier ruling in September that put the fine at $1.3 million a day.

Going forward, the court said it is up to copyright holders to contact Google about unauthorized postings; the company would have 24-hour period to respond before facing fines of $1,295 per day.

Related Links:

http://tinyurl.com/2qnt8g (AP)

http://www.copiepresse.be