GOOGLE HAS closed the book on a long-running copyright battle with publishers and authors over its controversial project to scan the world's libraries by forging a landmark deal that would bring millions of titles to the internet.
The internet giant agreed to pay $125 million to settle lawsuits brought by the book-publishing industry. The settlement would expand the Google Book programme, allow consumers to search for and buy books online and give US libraries free access to the database.
If approved by a Manhattan federal court judge next summer, the settlement has the potential to revolutionise the publishing industry by creating a giant online marketplace that would dramatically increase the volume of literature available to readers and researchers - while compensating authors and publishers.
"Fifteen to 20 years from now we will say that this was a watershed event," Washington intellectual property lawyer Terence Ross said. "It does serve as a model, not just within the book business, but in all content industries."
The settlement certainly signals a thawing in relations between old media and new. It also points to a growing recognition that the adversaries were better off forging partnerships than fighting over grey areas of copyright law in the digital age, intellectual property experts say. Google and publishers had fought over whether the company's unauthorised scanning of copyrighted books so it could offer snippets to web searchers was permissible, intellectual property experts say. "It makes sense for copyright owners to figure out how to live in the digital world rather than bury their heads in the sand," Washington copyright lawyer Jonathan Band said. The case has been closely watched by the publishing industry, which has been weighing whether making books available to read on computer screens could boost sales.
Google started its book project in 2004, scanning millions of books made available to it by universities and public libraries.
But in lawsuits filed against Google, publishers and authors claimed that merely copying their books to its computer servers infringed their copyrights.
The settlement, reached after more than two years of negotiations, would end the lawsuits. Under the deal, individuals and institutions could buy full online access to copyrighted, out-of-print books (prices have not been determined). Google would also provide free online access at public libraries. Copyrighted books that are in print would not be included unless publishers decided to participate in the programme.
Of the $125 million payment, $34.5 million would be used to form a registry to store copyright information and arrange payments. Google also would pay about $60 per copyright holder for copyrighted books it has already scanned and would give 63 per cent of all money from sales, subscription and advertising revenue to copyright holders.
"What this agreement does is, it provides a model for us to work together," said Macmillan's John Sargent.The deal would give Google, which has scanned more than seven million titles, more web content to help pump up a book search business that has yet to gain momentum. Yet it has little competition: Microsoft ended a similar books search programme in May, essentially ceding the business to Google.
Google's more conciliatory posture toward copyright issues may not apply to other cases.
Its biggest legal headache is a major copyright battle over its popular video-sharing site YouTube. Viacom is seeking at least $1 billion in damages in a lawsuit. It accuses Google of illegally profiting from pirated clips from such shows as South Park and The Daily Show. That case is pending.
