Google Fights for Digitised Books
Google has filed a 67 page document in a US court contesting the US Department of Justice's blockage of their plans to use its digitised files to make out-of-print books available to readers by printing them on demand.
The Department of Justice says digitising books is anti-competitive and goes against copyright laws. They require authors have the right to opt in or opt out to having their books made available on the internet. Google has said however that while they have complied with most of the rulings, the opt in would damage their plans because the task of tracking down hundreds of thousands of authors of out-of-print works would be extremely difficult.
The Open Book Alliance, supported by Amazon, Microsoft, Yahoo and other organisations, are against Google's initiative. In a statement issued in response to Google's document, they said, "The arguments it now offers to defend the amended settlement are the same arguments that have been rejected by the Department of Justice, twice. Despite the spin from Google’s attorneys, the amended settlement will still offer the search and online advertising giant exclusive access to books it has illegally scanned to the detriment of consumers, authors and competition."
Google argues that, far from being anti-competitive, its moves to make out-of-print works available are "precisely the kind of beneficial innovation that the anti-trust laws are intended to encourage, not to frustrate".
