Google has had to shelve plans to create an online library making millions of books available to everyone who has an internet connection after it was blocked by Judge Denny Chin in Manhatten. A settlement worth $125,000,000 had been agreed on in 2008 but the Judge ruled that the creation of thei library would "Simply go too far".
The Authors' Guild and Association of American Publishers welcomed the ruling. They had fought the settlement and accused Google of "Massive copyright infringement" for scanning books to be published online. 6500 authors had agreed to "opt out" but Judge Chin said "the settlement would grant Google significant rights to exploit entire books without permission of the copyright owners". He referred to out of print books whose authors could not be contacted, Google would have the monopoly over unclaimed works. He said that the final decision should be with the American Congress.
Foreign authors and publishers and countries stated that the settlement is a violation of international law. Objections were raised by many countries.
Google are now considering their options and will carry on working to make more books "Discoverable online" through Google books and other services.
The Open Book Alliance which includes Yahoo and Amazon said the ruling was "A victory for the public interest and for competition in the literary and internet ecosystems".
Irene Tirtoprodo
http://www.negotiatenow.co.uk/
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