Google faces another lawsuit

2005-10-20 08:06

New York - Just weeks after a leading authors' organisation sued Google for copyright infringement, the Association of American Publishers has also filed suit against the search engine's plans to scan and index books for the internet.

Under the Google Print Library Project, millions of copyrighted books will be indexed on the internet unless the copyright holder notifies the company by November 1 about which volumes should be excluded.

A few sentences from each book would be viewable, but could not be printed or downloaded.

Google has called the project an invaluable chance for books to receive increased exposure. The library project is an offshoot of the Google Print program, for which publishers voluntarily submit copyrighted material.

But in papers filed on Wednesday, the publishers association sought a ruling that would support an injunction against illegal scanning and cited the "continuing, irreparable and imminent harm publishers are suffering ... due to Google's wilful (copyright) infringement to further its own commercial purposes".

Legal action 'short-sighted'

The suit named five publishers: McGraw-Hill, Pearson Education, Penguin Group USA, Simon & Schuster and John Wiley & Sons. The suit seeks recovery of legal costs, but no additional damages.

Google called the legal action "short-sighted" and said the project was a "historic effort to make millions of books easier for people to find and buy".

"Creating an easy to use index of books is fair use under copyright law and supports the purpose of copyright: to increase the awareness and sales of books directly benefiting copyright holders," David Drummond, Google's general counsel and vice president, corporate development, said.

The Authors Guild, which represents about 8 000 writers, filed a class action suit for copyright infringement last month. Besides an injunction, the guild is seeking monetary damages.

Patricia Schroeder, president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers, said on Wednesday that the publishers' lawsuit followed months of negotiations with Google.

Publishers worry that Google is scanning entire books, even though just a limited amount of material will be displayed online. The library project's November 1 deadline, Google's so-called "opt out" provision, was established over the summer in response to such concerns.

But Schroeder said on Wednesday that the company still wrongly placed the burden on copyright holders. By contrast, publishers don't object to the larger Google Print program because nothing would be used without explicit permission.

Google has countered that it does not need permission for the library project and calls the "opt out" clause a courtesy.

The Google controversy reflects a general debate over the internet and copyright law. Even the publishers association acknowledges that the project could benefit the book industry, if rights are respected.

- AP