Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo are planning to join a coalition of non-profit groups, individuals and library associations to oppose a proposed class-action settlement which would give Google the rights to commercialize digital copies of millions of books. The settlement between Google and groups representing authors and publishers, which is awaiting court approval, has attracted opposition from various corners of the book world. The Department of Justice has also opened an antitrust investigation into the implications of the agreement, said The New York Times. Gary Reback, an antitrust lawyer in Silicon Valley, who is acting as counsel to the coalition said that Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo have all agreed to join the effort. The group, called the Open Book Alliance, plans to make the case to the Justice Department that the deal is anticompetitive. It also plans to file briefs with the court opposing the agreement. “This deal has enormous, far-reaching anticompetitive consequences that people are just beginning to wake up to,” said Reback, a lawyer with Carr & Ferrell. In the 1990s, Mr. Reback helped persuade the Justice Department to file its landmark antitrust case against Microsoft. He said other members of the coalition include the Internet Archive, a non-profit that, like Google, is digitizing books and has long been a critic of the settlement. Google reached the settlement with the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers in October. The two groups had sued Google for copyright infringement in 2005 over the company’s plan to digitize millions of from libraries, alleging copyright violations. The agreement sets up a mechanism for Google, along with a registry operated by authors and publishers, to display and sell millions of books online. The parties to the settlement have hailed it as a huge public good, arguing that the agreement will make millions of out-of-print books widely available online and in libraries across the country.
Three Google Rivals Set to Oppose Settlement of Book Suit
Google faces opposition from three rivals as it attempts to gain the rights to commercialize digital copies of millions of books.
August 21, 2009