DOJ Critical of Google Book Settlement
Weighing in on the massive class action settlement between Google and groups representing authors and publishers, the Justice Department has said that Google’s plan to create a giant digital library and store has significant legal problems.
The DOJ filed a 31-page statement of interest in the case, which is awaiting federal court approval, the New York Times reports.
While the DOJ noted that the new agreement is an improvement over a previous version, the changes weren’t enough to overcome concerns that the deal would grant Google a monopoly over millions of books known as “orphan works” because the individuals holding the rights are unknown or can’t be located.
According to the DOJ, the settlement agreement “suffers from the same core problem as the original agreement: it is an attempt to use the class action mechanism to implement forward-looking business arrangements that go far beyond the dispute before the court in this litigation.”
Also, the agreement appears to be too broad in scope and violate authors’ copyrights, reports the Times, which posted a PDF of the filing.
The settlement, first announced in October 2008, seeks to resolve lawsuits filed by the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers over Google’s plan to digitize books from major libraries.
Also See:
DOJ News Release: “Justice Department Submits Views on Amended Google Book Search Settlement”
TechCrunch: “Lessig Calls Google Book Settlement A “Path To Insanity”
The New Republic: “For the Love of Culture: Google, copyright, and our future”
