Amazon comes out swinging versus Google's Book Search deal, arguing like many before it that the deal will give Google a monopoly over orphan works and too much control over the pricing of books scanned online. However, Google Book Search has several supporters, including Sony, Interread, the European Union and various civil rights groups. Moreover, Bernstein Research's Jeffrey Lindsay analyzes the deal and concludes that it is a good one for the reading public.
Amazon dramatically opposed Google's Book Search settlement
in a 49-page legal brief filed Sept. 1 with the U.S. District Court in New York
presiding over the deal.
The controversial deal, which is being studied by the Justice Department, calls for Google to scan millions of books
online and charge users to read them, sharing the proceeds with authors and
publishers.
Amazon, which competes with Google by scanning books to
sell through its Kindle electronic reader, said it is opposed to the agreement
because it would enable Google to cultivate a monopoly over millions of "orphan
works," or those books for whom a copyright holder cannot be found. Amazon
also said Google, authors and publishers would have the power to fix prices at
will.
Resource Library:
Amazon, which along with Microsoft and Yahoo is also part
of the Open Book Alliance geared to oppose Google's bid, also moved to appeal to the
court's sense of federal loyalty when it claimed: "The proposed settlement
usurps the role of Congress in legislating solutions to the complex issues
raised by the interplay between new technologies and the nation's copyright
laws."
The district court is currently weighing whether or not
to approve the agreement Google inked last October. Parties have until Sept. 8
to submit their support or opposition to the deal, which the court is expected
to hold a hearing on Oct. 7. Amazon said it would attend that hearing.
Google, meanwhile, has swatted aside the protestations by
Amazon and the Open Book Alliance, calling them sour grapes by competitors. While
Amazon remains a rival, Microsoft and Yahoo both tried to offer online book
search but gave up.
Despite the best efforts of Amazon, the Open Book
Alliance and other opponents, Google Book Search has several supporters. The
short list includes: Sony, which is offering Google Books through its own Sony Reader; Interread, which is offering the same through Coolerbooks; the European Union; and various civil rights
groups.
However, the most dramatic support may have come via an
Aug. 28 research note from Bernstein Research's Jeffrey Lindsay. The analyst claimed Google is on the verge of an "astonishing achievement that will
benefit the U.S. for generations, bridging a major part of the digital divide
and giving the country a global lead in a key area scholarship."
While he acknowledges the lack of sufficient competition and
privacy are valid concerns for Google Book Search, Lindsay makes a solid argument for why Google
should be allowed to go ahead with its project:
On balance we think the enormous potential good of the Google
Books database would be sufficient to warrant allowing the company to move
ahead at this stage, given that the company has developed a national asset that would
have taken decades to achieve otherwise if ever. Whether fully intended or
not, Google's efforts will give rural and inner city students direct access to
the same knowledge and data that is currently only truly available in the
finest academic institutions. With good regulation this repository of human knowledge
and ideas could be kept accessible to millions at low or zero cost while
ensuring the rights to knowledge and privacy set out in the Bill of Rights
could be preserved for generations.
Meanwhile, civil rights, disability and education groups are
hosting a call at noon EDT to discuss their support for the settlement.
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