Google Books settlement does not get court approval

The deal that Google aimed to close with authors and publisher so that it could go ahead and make substantial parts of books available online has been denied by the district court of New York. In his verdict, the judge writes: "The question presented is whether the [proposed settlement (ed.)] is fair, adequate, and reasonable. I conclude that it is not.”

The plan Google conceived together with publishers and authors entailed that Google would pay 125 million dollar to copyright holders in exchange for the possibility to publish online 20% of the contents of books subject to the settlement. Books on which copyright has expired, are completely made available. Of books outside of settlement’s range, Google only publishes small fragments.

According to the judge, Google’s idea to make books available online will benefit a great number of people, but the settlement he reviewed, went too far. The proposal would give Google a significant advantage over competitors. Furthermore, the consequences of the settlement would extend further than the settlement acknowledges, as it gives Google the opportunity to massively copy content without prior permission from its creators.

Google is disappointed: "Like many others, we believe this agreement has the potential to open up access to millions of books that are currently hard to find in the U.S. today.”

The verdict is cheered by critics of the plan, amongst which publishers, libraries and writers, but also firms like Microsoft, Amazon and Yahoo. These institutions fear that a successful conclusion of the settlement would further strengthen Google’s grasp on the market for making information accessible.

Source: Computerworld