Online search major Google said it will remove all commercially available European books from the $125m settlement with US publishers.
In October 2008, Google has reached a settlement with the Authors Guild and Association of American Publishers to scan orphaned and out-of-print books in the country and sell them online. Under this settlement, Google will pay 63% of its online revenue generated through selling digitised books.
The concessions come amid concerns of the European authors and publishers, who opposed the search engine scanning their books that are still protected by copyrights. However, Google can put them online with the right holders’ authorisation.
Google said that it will add two foreign representatives to the board of the Books Rights Registry to address the concerns.
At a hearing in Brussels, Viviane Reding, commissioner for Information Society and Media, and Charlie McCreevy, commissioner for the Internal Market and Services, said in a joint statement: It is time for Europe to turn over a new e-leaf on digital books and copyright. They highlighted the need to adapt Europe’s still very fragmented copyright legislation to the digital age, in particular with regard to orphan and out-of-print works.
The commissioners added: “The challenge for EU policymakers is to ensure a regulatory framework which paves the way for a rapid roll-out of services, similar to those made possible in the United Sates by the recent settlement, to European consumers and to the European library and research communities.”
Last week, Germany has filed a complaint with a US court opposing Google’s intentions to scan and digitise books, as it would violate the German copyright law. The government contended that the deal “runs afoul of the applicable German national laws, as well as European public initiatives to create non-commercial worldwide digital libraries.”
