Justice Department Looks At Google Book Search Deal

The Justice Department is examining the antitrust implications of Google's settlement with writers and publishers regarding its Google Book Search feature that gives it the right to make available books online, according to a consumer advocate who was interviewed by Justice Department lawyers.

A settlement agreement, announced in October, would resolve a class-action lawsuit brought by the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers in 2005 to prohibit Google from scanning copyrighted books and making them searchable online.

Under the settlement, Google can display the books online and sell access to individual texts and sell subscriptions to its entire collection to libraries and other institutions. Google would share revenue with authors and publishers.

However, some consumer groups, including Consumer Watchdog and the Internet Archive, have raised objections on antitrust grounds and said Google would get an exclusive license to profits from millions of books.

One of the the issues with the settlement is so-called orphans rights, which would give Google alone a license that covers millions of books, whose authors cannot be found or whose rights holders are unknown.

John Simpson, consumer advocate for Consumer Watchdog, said Tuesdady his organization raised objections with the Justice Department on April 1 and was contacted soon after by Justice Department lawyers from its Antitrust Division. "We had concerns that there were serious antitrust issues in the settlement," Simpson said.

"We had conversation with lawyers from the Antitrust Division," Simpson said. "One the our concerns is that the settlement gives Google effective monopoly over digitalized orphan books."

The New York Times reported that the inquiry does not necessarily mean the Justice Department will oppose the settlement. Efforts to reach Google, and representatives for the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild, who are parties to the settlement, were unsuccessful.

In a related matter, a U.S. District Judge granted a four-month extension on Tuesday to a group of authors deciding whether they want to opt out or object to the settlement, Reuters reported.

Reuters said that Gabriel Stricker, a spokesman for Google, confirmed September 4 as the new, extended opt-out deadline for authors. The previous deadline was May 5.

"The settlement is highly detailed, and we want to make sure rights-holders everywhere have enough time to think about it and make sure it's right for them," he said via email, Reuters said.