Regulators are flexing their muscles as concern grows about the dominance of the global digital media players. The latest announcement is from the US where a judge ruled this week to block the $125m settlement Google had made with publishers to digitise millions of books no longer in print. The reason? That it would ‘further entrench dominant position’ of Google. Here’s why…
A federal judge dealt a severe blow this week to Google’s plans for making millions of out-of-print books available online, part of an ambitious plan to create the world’s biggest digital library.
Judge Denny Chin said Google’s book plans went “too far”, saying a deal between authors, publishers and Google over the publication of the material was not valid.
Google had rejected the idea of allowing copyright owners to “opt-in” and have their books published on the service. Instead, it stood by an agreement made in 2008 between itself, the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers. Under that deal, Google had said it would pay annual royalties to those who owned the copyright in the books that it chose to scan.
Chin, however, said this gave, “… Google a significant advantage over competitors, rewarding it for engaging in wholesale copying of copyrighted works without permission.”
While Google’s eBooks store remains open for business, this will be a bitter blow for the search giant, as it looks to further expand it’s already vast business.
