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Germany Opposes Google Book Settlement with Authors

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 2, 2009 - 8:21am.
Washington - The German government has filed a brief opposing Google's (NASD: GOOG) landmark settlement with authors over works appearing in its massive book-scanning project, saying the deal would violation foreign copyright and privacy protection laws, Reuters reports.

"The decision of this court with respect to this settlement will have the dramatic and long-range effect of creating a new worldwide copyright regime without any input from those who will be greatly impacted -- German authors, publishers and digital libraries and German citizens," reads the brief, which was signed by Johannes Christian Wichard, deputy director general of the German Justice Ministry's directorate commercial and economic law.

A court hearing is scheduled on Oct. 7 in New York to determine whether the $125 million settlement between Google and the Authors Guild will be approved.

Sony recently filed a brief in support of Google, saying the deal will expand the market for e-books.

Opposition to the settlement has come from firms including Microsoft, Yahoo and Amazon, while the U.S. Justice Department is investigating antitrust concerns.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/rjumi (Reuters)

Published in DMW Daily, September 2, 2009
tags: Law | Lawsuits | Google | Copyright | E-Books | Privacy | Publishing | Books | Authors Guild | Google Book Search |



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