Google Books settlement proposal rejected

22.03.2011
A proposed agreement drafted by Google, authors and publishers to settle their years-long copyright litigation has been rejected, a major setback to Google's ambitious plans to build a massive marketplace and library for digital books.

"The question presented is whether the [proposed settlement] is fair, adequate, and reasonable. I conclude that it is not," wrote Judge Denny Chin from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in a 48-page ruling. "While the digitization of books and the creation of a universal digital library would benefit many, the [proposed settlement] would simply go too far."

The settlement would grant Google "significant rights to exploit entire books, without permission from copyright owners. Indeed, the [settlement] would grant Google a significant advantage over competitors, rewarding it for engaging in wholesale copying of copyrighted works without permission, while releasing claims well beyond those presented in the case," Judge Chin wrote.

Google finds the decision "clearly disappointing" and will review its options, Hilary Ware, a Google managing counsel, said in a statement.

"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. Regardless of the outcome, we'll continue to work to make more of the world's books discoverable online through Google Books and Google eBooks," she said.