BRUSSELS (Bloomberg) — Google Inc., the world’s most-used Internet search engine, reached a settlement with Belgian photographers and journalists in a copyright dispute over how the company’s news service links to newspaper content.The agreement removes two of five groups from a Brussels lawsuit that seeks to prevent Google from linking to Belgian newspaper articles for 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 settlements may show a willingness by Mountain View, California-based Google to resolve disputes with content providers trying to prevent the company from linking to websites without compensation. Book publishers and authors in the US are also challenging Google’s plan to scan copyrighted books and make them searchable online.

“It’s going to be more expensive for Google to do its work if all these people want licence fees for linking to their content,” said Laura Martin, a Soleil Securities Group Inc. analyst, in an interview on Friday.