Google book publishing settlement case has librarians riled

by Rich Bowden - May 6 2009, 15:00

The recent settlement case between Google and publishers to compensate for copyright infringement in the search engine giant's grand project to make millions of books available online has met with criticism from associations representing American libraries.

The associations have cited concerns over excessive power, privacy and pricing, and have taken the step of filing a legal complaint.

The American Library Association, the Association of College and Research Libraries, and the Association of Research Libraries have said that, while they support the project's aim of sharing books online, they remain concerned the settlement would give Google too much power over dissemination of the printed material.

"The library associations do not oppose approval of the settlement. The settlement has the potential to provide unprecedented public access to a digital library containing millions of books," the groups said in their court filing.

"However, the digital library enabled by the settlement will be under the control of Google and the Book Rights Registry. Moreover, the cost of creating such a library and Google's significant lead-time advantage suggest that no other entity will create a competing digital library for the foreseeable future."

They argue that such a concentration of control would be detrimental to their members.

Google's massive project involves the scanning of millions of books and making them available to the public through its Google Book Search site. However, the project has been put on hold as a case proceeds in a U.S. court to determine compensation for copyright infringement.

Jim Rettig, president of the American Library Association, added that privacy protection concerning the online library was not guaranteed.

He said the proposed settlement, "offers no assurances that the privacy of what the public accessed will be protected, which is in stark contrast to the long-standing patron privacy rights libraries champion on behalf of the public."

A Google statement welcomed the associations' involvement.

"We're pleased that the thousands of librarians and libraries represented by the ALA recognize the promise of our groundbreaking agreement, and we appreciate that the Library Associations do not oppose approval of the settlement," the statement said.

"Google is proud to partner with dozens of libraries around the world as part of our Book Search efforts, and we have consistently maintained that, if approved by the court, our settlement agreement stands to unlock access to millions of books for users in the U.S."

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