Google says it's in talks with Europe's biggest book publisher. The proposal is to digitally scan and distribute out-of-print French volumes.

The Director of Google Books, Dan Clancy, says the prospective deal with Hachette Livre, the world's second-largest book publisher, is "a first of its kind," and could serve as a template, for future agreements with other international publishers.

The plan, to tap some of the estimated, one million out-of-print French books, comes after the US Internet powerhouse, ran into legal battles over its six-year effort, to digitize every volume on the planet.

Under the new deal, Google would share revenue, generated by the sales of online books, through its Google Books platform.