Amazon’s latest novella: 41 pages against Google Books
Amazon has joined a chorus of official objections to Google’s proposed settlement with the publishing industry. According to a court filing by Amazon, the deal is “a high-tech form of the backroom agreements that are the stuff of antitrust nightmares.”
As regular readers will know, groups representing authors and publishers in the U.S. took legal action against Google for including titles in its Book Search scheme without permission. The two sides reached a settlement which covers both the scanning and selling of any books except those where the author or publisher actively opts out of the deal.
The settlement is still awaiting court approval, a process which may be threatened by investigations by both the Department of Justice and the European Union.
Like other groups questioning the deal, Amazon says it’s unfair to give Google complete control over “orphan” books: out-of-print titles which are still in copyright but where the rights owners can’t be identified or traced.
However, Amazon is also raising objections over the settlement’s handling of books still in print. It believes that Google having default control over these books means it has too much power over setting prices and this could lead to anti-competitive price hikes affecting readers.
According to Amazon, making the deal opt-out rather than opt-in for publishers and authors “represents an unprecedented rewriting of copyright law through judicial action.”
The Authors Guild, one of the groups involved in the settlement, says Amazon’s objections are motivated by commercial interests.
All objections to the Google deal must be with the court by tomorrow. The Associated Press reports that both Yahoo and Microsoft – partners with Amazon in an alliance objecting to the settlement — are expected to make filings.
Google is expected to hold a press conference tomorrow, to be attended by groups supporting the settlement.
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