Google Books Settlement Delayed by Opponents in Publishing and Academia

By Evan Mix

Published on May 04, 2009

A coalition of authors, librarians, academics, consumer advocates, and others has secured a four-month reprieve from a federal judge to delay a court settlement that would have added new titles to the Google Books database, a resource created by the search giant to make millions of published works available online. The settlement would grant Google the right to use many new out-of-print books with questionable standing under copyright law. Legal experts and others have argued that the settlement would have a sweeping impact on the future of copyright law, publishing, and research.

The delay marks the latest turn in a copyright battle that has raged for more than three years between Google and both the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers. The dispute began shortly after Google announced its intention to digitize every published work available and make the material available online, a vision that Google's onetime opponents have argued would be a flagrant violation of copyright law. The delayed settlement would have resolved the longstanding dispute, had it been allowed to proceed.

Both sides in the proposed settlement have said that they do not oppose the delay, considering it an opportunity for further discussion of the settlement and its goals. The settlement allows Google to use the works in question while compensating their creators, but opponents say the agreement grants the search company unique and unprecedented rights that could be exploited financially and undermine potential competition.

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