Google settles with 2 plaintiffs

Google Inc. said Friday that it had reached a settlement with Belgian photographers and journalists in a copyright dispute over how the Internet search engine’s news service links to newspaper content.

The agreement removes two of five groups from a Brussels lawsuit that seeks to prevent Mountain View, Calif.-based Google from linking to Belgian newspaper articles free.

Company spokeswoman Jessica Powell declined to give the terms of the agreements with copyright agencies Sofam, which represents 3,700 photographers, and Scam, which represents journalists.

The suit, filed by a group of 17 French- and German-language newspapers in Belgium, proceeded Friday in Brussels at a hearing with the remaining plaintiffs. Powell declined to say whether Google was considering similar accords with the newspapers.