Both the Associated Press and Google have confirmed that Google pays AP for the proprietary stories and photographs that it indexes and displays.

Settling a longtime dispute over Google's right to index copyrighted news content, Google and the Associated Press disclosed the existence of a months-long business relationship yesterday, reports the AP.

Neither company would divulge the financial details; however, AP did state its content will form the base of a new Google product, to be launched in the coming months alongside Google News.

"Google has always believed that content providers and publishers should be fairly compensated for their work so they can continue producing high quality information," Google stated.

This is a slightly different tack than one previously employed by Google, which was sued last year by Agence France Presse for infringement of copyright.

The search engine brand has long said it need not pay for merely pointing to news items and photographs elsewhere on the web, arguing that doing so falls within "fair use" protections under copyright law.

"Google News is fully consistent with fair use and always has been," Google reaffirmed Wednesday.

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