Don't waffle, Belgium

That the French-language newspapers of Belgium have filed a 49-million-euro claim against Google may be of significance to newspapers everywhere.

As an industry, we are in hard times. Yet there is no less hunger for what we produce, no fewer eyes on our pages. Our problem is that more and more of the eyes reach our pages through the Internet, a storefront that does not charge admission. A few of the biggest newspapers tried it, and they gave it up. It does not work. Like radio, it appears that Internet-delivered news has to be supported entirely by advertising.

We offer such ads, and every quarter we sell more of them. And yet we see the pot of gold in Internet advertising going to one company: Google. It went public at $85 a share four years ago and now trades at $588, up almost 600 percent. It is a fountain of profit.

Meanwhile, Washington Post stock is down by one-third, New York Times and Gannett are down by almost two-thirds and McClatchy, which has a minority share in The Seattle Times, is down by more than 80 percent.

We look at Google, and ask: What do you offer? A shelf on which to stack our product. It is an instantaneous and custom-made shelf. It is useful, and we use it every day. But still, it holds our product.

This is what bothered the Belgians. They sued Google and won a court ruling under European copyright law. The claim they filed last week is a arm-twisting move in a negotiation about relations in the future — about getting Google to pay for content.

These negotiations are happening under the law of Belgium, not the United States. But the ownership issues and business concerns are the same.

Copyright law everywhere is a balancing act. It is a system of rules to make sure that writers, photographers, musicians and other creators are paid. If, because technology changes, the law gives too much power to the owner of the shelf and not enough to those who create the products on it, the law can be adjusted.

We watch with interest, and raise a toast to our compatriots in Belgium.