Google Back in Court? French Publishers File Suit

Google continues to stand by its "not guilty" plea.

"'We were surprised to receive this new claim. ... We remain convinced of the legality of Google Books and its compliance with French laws and international copyright,' [Google] said in a statement," the AFP story noted.

"We are committed to continue working with publishers to help them develop their digital offering and to make their works accessible to Internet users in France and abroad."

At the end of 2011, Google managed to negotiate at least one major deal successfully, with Hachette Livre—France's largest publisher—which "licensed Google to scan out-of-print books for which it holds the rights," reported the AFP.

The U.S. Google Book Settlement

In the United States, Google's outlook had been more promising until March, when a U.S. District court rejected Google's 2008 settlement with the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers, on behalf of a number of U.S. publishers and authors.

According to an article on The Economic Times, "US Circuit Judge Denny Chin said the creation of a universal library would benefit many but would 'simply go too far.' He said the settlement of the class-action lawsuit challenging the right of Google to scan books and display snippets for online searching would 'grant Google significant rights to exploit entire books, without permission of the copyright owners.'''

An article on msnbc.com reported, "The deal gives Google 'a significant advantage over competitors, rewarding it for engaging in wholesale copying of copyrighted works without permission, while releasing claims well beyond those presented in the case,' Chin said. He noted that many of the concerns raised in objections to the settlement would go away if it were converted to an 'opt-in' settlement from an 'opt-out' settlement."

For more information and updates on the Google Book Search Copyright Class Action Settlement, visit the settlement administration website.