WASHINGTON, April 6 (UPI) -- Agence France-Presse said Friday it signed a licensing agreement giving Google Inc. the right to post its news and photos on the search engine.
The deal settles a copyright-infringement lawsuit Paris-based AFP filed in March 2005 accusing Google of posting news summaries and photos without permission.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States and France, sought damages and interest as well as an injunction from further use of AFP text and photos without prior permission.
Financial details of the settlement were not disclosed.
The deal lets Google use headlines and photos on Google News, Google Actualites and other Google pages, driving online traffic to Web sites that display AFP news, the wire service said.
The deal will also "enable the use of AFP's newswire content in innovative, new ways that will dramatically improve the way users experience newswire content on the Internet," a joint statement said.
Chief Executive Pierre Louette would not comment beyond the statement, other than to say the agreement would "go beyond its typical use of content in Google's services."
