Oh those whacky French…

Agence France Presse Sues Over Google News

Yeah, we get it. The French hate http://www.google.com/ Google. Now a French newspaper is suing the search engine giant for… searching the web and showing headlines and images that link to their web content?

I’m dumbfounded. Maybe this is their answer to flagging newspaper sales: Profit through litigation!

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Agence France Presse has sued Google Inc., alleging the Web search leader includes AFP’s photos, news headlines and stories on its news site without permission.

The French news service is seeking damages of at least $17.5 million and an order barring Google News from displaying AFP photographs, news headlines or story leads, according to the suit filed on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

“We allow publishers to opt out of Google News but most publishers want to be included because they believe it is a benefit to them and to their readers,” Google spokesman Steve Langdon said of the AFP lawsuit. The attorney for AFP was not immediately available for comment.