Lawyers for Google and authors and publishers go back to court July 19 to discuss how they want to proceed in the seemingly never-ending controversy over a case that could set the tone for publishing into the next millennium.
Federal Circuit Judge Denny Chin has said the issues are complicated (probably the understatement of the decade). In March, Chin scuttled the deal that would have established a universal online library. He cited antitrust concerns and the need for involvement from Congress (Examiner).
Google has said in a statement: "Regardless of the outcome, we'll continue to make the world's books discoverable online through Google Books and Google eBooks."
The case involves everybody and his dog – Microsoft to Amazon and back to Google again, with writers lurking somewhere – leaping lizards, crouching writers!
Google's plan to scan and put online some 15 million books from more than 100 countries has come under heavy criticism in the United States. In France, three leading publishers have also sued Google for allegedly scanning thousands of books without permission, news services have reported.
Supporters of the settlement argue that Google's proposed digital library and e-bookstore would make millions of out-of-print books available and provide a new avenue for authors to profit from their works.
Opponents have urged the judge to reject the deal on antitrust, copyright and privacy grounds and said it would give Google exclusive rights to digitize "orphan works" -- out-of-print books which remain under copyright but whose authors cannot be traced.
In his ruling, Chin said the proposed agreement was "not fair, adequate and reasonable" and would give Google "a significant advantage over competitors, rewarding it for engaging in wholesale copying of copyrighted works without permission."
The Open Book Alliance championed the ruling. Members of the Open Book Alliance include Amazon.com, American Society of Journalists and Authors, Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, Internet Archive, Microsoft, National Writers Union, New York Library Association, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Small Press Distribution, Special Libraries Association and Yahoo!
The New York Law School has published seven essays from a symposium that dealt with the proposed Google Book Settlement. Examiner for Contemporary Literature encourages everyone with an interest in publishing to read the essays available from the New York Law School Law Review and earlier Examiner reports.For simplicity, the American Library Association publishes a two-page guide (ALA).
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