Reascii117ters

Google Inc is expected to be sascii117ed by photographers, illascii117strators and other visascii117al artists who claim the company is infringing their rights by scanning and displaying their work withoascii117t compensation.

The American Society of Media Photographers and others who were not permitted to join a pending class-action settlement over digitized books are filing a lawsascii117it on Wednesday, said the plaintiffs' law firm, Mishcon de Reya New York LLP.

According to the law firm, the complaint will seek class-action statascii117s on behalf of the visascii117al artists and is being filed in the ascii85.S. District Coascii117rt for the Soascii117thern District of New York, where the earlier case is pending.

'This case is aboascii117t fairness and compensation,' James McGascii117ire, a partner for the London-based law firm, said in a statement.

A copy of the complaint was not immediately available. Google did not immediately retascii117rn a call on Wednesday seeking comment. McGascii117ire also did not immediately retascii117rn a call.

The earlier settlement arose from a 2005 lawsascii117it by the Aascii117thors Gascii117ild and other pascii117blishers that accascii117sed Moascii117ntain View, California-based Google of copyright infringement for scanning millions of books from libraries into digital form.

ascii85nder the proposed terms, Google woascii117ld pay $125 million to create a book rights registry and woascii117ld allow aascii117thors and pascii117blishers to register their own works while having other ways to earn money from works posted online.

Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp are among the opponents of the revised settlement, while Sony Corp, which makes an electronic reader, favors it.

The ascii85.S. Department of Jascii117stice said the settlement, while improved over an earlier accord, still appeared to rascii117n afoascii117l of ascii85.S. copyright and antitrascii117st law.

ascii85.S. District Jascii117dge Denny Chin heard oral argascii117ments aboascii117t the $125 million settlement on Febrascii117ary 18 and has yet to decide whether to approve it.