Despite Setback, Google, Publishers Cite the Positive
Google and the groups that have agreed to a settlement over the Internet' firms online digital library project managed to find a silver lining even though the Justice Department said Thursday that the settlement still has significant problems.
"The Department of Justice's filing recognizes the progress made with the revised settlement, and it once again reinforces the value the agreement can provide in unlocking access to millions of books in the U.S.," according to a joint statement from Google and the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers. They added that if the settlement is approved, it will "significantly expand online access to works through Google Books, while giving authors and publishers new ways to distribute their works."
Justice, which filed comments with the federal court hearing litigation over the Google books project, said in a statement that the proposed revised settlement "eliminates certain open-ended provisions that would have allowed Google to engage in certain unspecified future uses, appoints a fiduciary to protect rights holders of unclaimed works, reduces the number of foreign works in the settlement class, and eliminates the most-favored nation provision that would have guaranteed Google optimal license terms into the future." Despite this, the department said the "changes do not fully resolve the United States' concerns," which include issues with class certification, copyright and antitrust.
David Balto, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, came to Google's defense, saying in a statement issued by Google that the Justice Department "is simply wrong on the ability of a class action settlement to address forward-looking business arrangements." Balto added that the department also erred in pointing to a "supposed competitive advantage the settlement confers on Google. The DOJ's view is clouded by taking a microscopic and static view of an incredibly dynamic marketplace."
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