Publishers abandon fight against Google book scanning

Five large publishers have made a separate peace with Google over the inclusion of their books in Google Books, announcing a settlement that resolves the seven-year-old litigation with the search giant.

Google had been fighting a two-front war over its Google Books program. In addition to its dispute with the publishers, it is also defending a lawsuit by the Author's Guild, which is seeking to head a class-action lawsuit on behalf of the nation's authors.