Google Rivals Looking to Sink Book Settlement Deal
Competitors to Google are working feverishly to invalidate or delay a settlement agreement between Google and numerous authors and publishers that would avoid copyright infringement litigation over the digitization of literary works for the Google Books platform.
Google Books is a digital book system which scans in books, converts them into text, and makes them available and searchable online. Authors and publishers sued Google for unauthorized use of copyrighted materials. In October 2008, Google and the complainants came to an agreement that would allow Google Books to continue development.
The settlement has not been approved yet and raises antitrust issues into which the United States Department of Justice is launching an investigation. Companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Yahoo are banding together to fight the deal as they claim that it unfairly insulates Google from liability for violating copyrights.
I think that if Google freely contracts with the authors and publishers, then it should be honored. The other tech businesses should draft their own agreements to secure the same rights instead of whining about Google! What do you think? Please post your comments!
