A Chinese novelist is suing Google Inc. for scanning her latest book and making it available for free in its online library.

A Chinese author has sued search giant Google Inc. for scanning her latest novel into its online library without her consent. (Mark Lennihan/Associated Press)

Mian Mian, a counterculture writer known for her lurid tales of sex, drugs and nightlife, filed suit in October after the U.S. search giant scanned her latest book, Acid House, into its library.

The two sides were due in a Beijing court on Tuesday, said her lawyer, Sun Jingwei. He said the author wants damages of $8,950 US and a public apology.

In a statement, Google said it removed Mian Mian's works from its library as soon as it learned of the lawsuit, and had no further comment on the matter.

The suit is not the first time Google has faced opposition to its ambitious effort to make printed works available online. Earlier this month, a Paris court ordered the search giant to pay $458,000 in damages and interest to French publisher La Martinière for republishing the company's copyrighted material.

Other suits

As of last month, Google had already scanned some 10 million titles into its database, most of which were still under copyright when they were scanned.

Mian Mian, who lives in Shanghai, shot to fame in 2000 when she published the novel Candy, which caused a stir with its graphic depiction of heroin use. Most of her work is banned in China, though pirated copies are widely available.

Last year, Mountain View, Calif.-based Google paid $125 million to settle copyright violation claims with American authors and publishers. It is waiting for final court approval after objections by U.S. regulators and other companies that said it might hurt the growth of the electronic book market.

A government-affiliated group called the China Written Works Copyright Society is calling on Google to negotiate compensation for Chinese authors whose work is scanned into its library. The group said it has found more than 80,000 works by Chinese authors scanned into the library and hopes to hold talks with Google in January on resolving the dispute.

With files from The Associated Press