Google Battles For Book Rights
Oxford Analytica, 11.12.09, Forbes magazine

While a U.S. settlement looks likely to be reached, it may rouse critics at home and abroad.
A settlement between Google and a U.S. court on the digitization of books is expected this week, after Google presents a new version of its proposed settlement with the Association of American Publishers and the Authors' Guild. If approved, it will enable the full roll-out of Google Books in the U.S. market.
However, in October, the European Commission announced that it wanted to resolve the copyright problem in advance of the U.S. company, which had hitherto set the pace on this issue.

--Google's plan. In 2004, Google reached an agreement with a number of libraries to scan their collections as comprehensively as possible. So far, over 7 million books have been scanned by Google Books, all of which are searchable, but full access is confined to those books with an expired copyright, or those that have a copyright and are available for purchase. The most challenging case has been those books that have a valid copyright but are out of print. Often, these texts are in effect "orphans," the rights to which are difficult to establish:

--Controversies. While many supported the principle of the plan, Google's particular approach--scanning without the approval of publishers and authors--was condemned as flouting copyright legislation. In 2005, a number of publishers and authors' associations launched a "class action" against Google in the U.S. courts.

--Agreement. In 2008, Google reached an agreement with two groups--the Author's Guild and the Association of American Publishers, which would authorize the scanning and selling of books and the establishment of a "Books Rights Registry" that would ensure that rights holders obtain 63% of sales revenue.

--Opposition. Perhaps the most significant criticism is from the U.S. Copyright Office, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of JU.S.tice. The latter's objections cite a variety of copyright and competition problems. However, while the Department of Justice opposed the agreement in its original form, it acknowledged that the settlement had some advantages and called for the continuation of negotiations.
Link to Forbes magazine for the full report.