A group of 15 authors and publishers and two organizations in India have filed a formal objection to the Google Books Settlement.
The Indian Reprographic Rights Organisation and the Federation of Indian Publishers and these 15 individuals join a panoply of international entities who have objected to Google’s ambitious and controversial plan to scan as many books as possible throughout the world. Though the search and Web app giant’s scheme would create a vast online library, it may also infringe on the rights of content creators and has created a lengthy international legal battle.
The coalition of Indian publishing entities claims that Google’s proposed settlement is a violation of copyright laws, both internationally and in India, because it allows for Google’s scanning, redistributing and selling books online. Content creators who don’t want their work online must opt out of the plan themselves; if an author does not explicitly opt out, his or her silence is deemed implicit consent.
In the past, Google’s book-scanning project has come under the scrutiny of the US Department of Justice as well as the governments of Germany and France. Federal judge Danny Chin is currently presiding over the case, which involves a class-action lawsuit and a settlement of more than $100 million for copyright holders whose works had been reproduced without their consent.
The Indian authors and publishers have submitted their objections to the settlement to Chin, who has decided to hold a final hearing on Feb. 18, 2010 to determine whether the Google Books Settlement is fair, adequate and reasonable.
Check out ReadWriteWeb’s archive of articles on the Google Books Settlement for more information.
