Google Admits DOJ Investigation into Book Deal
Google has confirmed it is being investigated by the Department of Justice for its October 2008 copyright settlement agreement with the Authors Guild, a group with 8,000 authors and the Association of American Publishers, which has more than 300,000 members.
The deal, being investigated because of its anticompetitive nature, would force Google to provide $125 million toward a Book Rights Registry, where authors and publishers could register their works and receive some form of compensation for their work from subscriptions or book sales.
“The Department of Justice and several state attorneys general have contacted us to learn more about the impact of the settlement, and we are happy to answer their questions,” said Gabriel Stricker, a Google spokesperson. “It’s important to note that this agreement is non-exclusive and if approved by the court, stands to expand access to millions of books in the U.S.”
Google said it received Civil Investigative Demands (CIDs) from the DOJ. A CID is a request for information in the course of a civil investigation and does not constitute the beginning of legal proceedings. David Drummund, Google’s legal counsel sait it is the equivalent of a civil subpoena, he told Reuters.
Competitive Barriers
Consumer groups have been outspoken about their disapproval of the deal between the Internet search giant and the authors and publishers groups, among them Public Knowledge, a Washington, DC-based public interest group.
The group said while it encourages access to orphan works, it believes the proposed settlement allows only the Book Rights Registry to grant licenses to use absent authors’ works. This would allow only Google to use the licenses. Orphan works are copyrighted works where it is challenging or impossible to find the copyright holder.
“The Justice Department is free to see what it can see,” Public Knowledge’s Communication Director Art Brodsky said, declining to provide…
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