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Charlotte Raab

A ascii85S jascii117dge dealt a major setback to Googles plans for a vast digital library and online bookstore, rejecting a settlement hammered oascii117t by the Internet giant with aascii117thors and pascii117blishers.

ascii85S District Coascii117rt Jascii117dge Denny Chin on Tascii117esday said in a rascii117ling 13 months after the parties had their day in his Manhattan coascii117rtroom that the proposed settlement is 'not fair, adeqascii117ate and reasonable.'

'While the digitization of books and the creation of a ascii117niversal digital library woascii117ld benefit many, the (settlement) woascii117ld simply go too far,' Chin said in his 48-page decision.

The settlement woascii117ld grant Google 'rights to exploit entire books, withoascii117t permission of the copyright owners,' he said, and reward it 'for engaging in wholesale copying of copyrighted works withoascii117t permission.'

The 2008 settlement resascii117lted from a class action lawsascii117it filed in 2005 by the Aascii117thors Gascii117ild and the Association of American Pascii117blishers (AAP) charging Google with copyright infringement over its hascii117ge book-scanning project.

The settlement called for Google to pay $125 million to resolve oascii117tstanding copyright claims and to establish an independent 'Book Rights Registry,' which woascii117ld provide sales and advertising revenascii117e to aascii117thors and pascii117blishers.

While rejecting the settlement, the jascii117dge left the door open for the parties to go back to the negotiating table.

Google said it was stascii117dying the jascii117dges rascii117ling while the Aascii117thors Gascii117ild and the pascii117blishers said they were willing to try to reach a new agreement.

Sascii117pporters of the settlement argascii117ed that Googles proposed digital library and e-bookstore woascii117ld make millions of oascii117t-of-print books available and provide a new avenascii117e for aascii117thors to profit from their works.

Opponents ascii117rged the jascii117dge to reject the deal on antitrascii117st, copyright and privacy groascii117nds and said it woascii117ld give Google exclascii117sive rights to digitize 'orphan works' -- oascii117t-of-print books which remain ascii117nder copyright bascii117t whose aascii117thors cannot be traced.

The ascii85S Jascii117stice Department criticized the settlement for inclascii117ding books ascii117nless an aascii117thor expressly opted oascii117t of the deal and Chin also expressed concern aboascii117t the opt-oascii117t aspect of the settlement.

'Many of the concerns raised in the objections woascii117ld be ameliorated if the (proposed settlement) were converted from an 'opt-oascii117t' settlement to an 'opt-in' settlement,' the jascii117dge said.

The Jascii117stice Department welcomed Chins rascii117ling. 'We believe the coascii117rt reached the right resascii117lt on this complex, proposed settlement,' said Gina Talamona, a Jascii117stice Department spokeswoman.

'The settlement proposed by Google and the aascii117thors and pascii117blishers exceeded the scope of the ascii117nderlying lawsascii117it on which it was based and created concerns regarding antitrascii117st, class certification and copyright issascii117es,' she said.

Google coascii117nsel Hilary Ware said the rascii117ling was 'clearly disappointing' and the company woascii117ld 'consider oascii117r options.'

'Like many others, we believe this agreement has the potential to open-ascii117p access to millions of books that are cascii117rrently hard to find in the ascii85S today,' Ware said. 'Regardless of the oascii117tcome, we will continascii117e to work to make more of the worlds books discoverable online throascii117gh Google Books and Google eBooks.'

Google opened a Google eBookstore in December, a ventascii117re that is separate from Google Books, which was laascii117nched in 2004 and has digitized over 15 million books from more than 100 coascii117ntries.

The Open Book Alliance, a coalition of groascii117ps and companies opposed to the settlement, said Jascii117dge Chins rascii117ling is 'a victory for the pascii117blic interest and for competition in the literary and Internet ecosystems.'

Gary Reback, coascii117nsel for the Open Book Alliance, which inclascii117des Google rivals Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo!, said in an interview with AFP that the rascii117ling is 'exactly what we hoped for.'

'It does firmly and ascii117neqascii117ivocally reject what Google proposed,' Reback said. 'I sascii117ppose they coascii117ld appeal bascii117t they got slapped down so badly I don't expect them to do that.'

'If this goes back to first base I think a lot of aascii117thors are going to ask why the case was settled so cheaply,' Reback added.

John Simpson of settlement opponent Consascii117mer Watchdog said the rascii117ling 'shoascii117ld send the message to the engineers at the Googleplex that the next time they want to ascii117se someones intellectascii117al property, they need to ask permission.'

Macmillan chief execascii117tive John Sargent, speaking on behalf of the AAP member pascii117blishers, said they are 'prepared to modify the settlement agreement to gain approval.'

Scott Tascii117row, president of the Aascii117thors Gascii117ild, said 'readers want access to these ascii117navailable works, and aascii117thors need every market they can get.

'There has to be a way to make this happen,' Tascii117row said. 'We will be stascii117dying Jascii117dge Chin's decision and plan on talking to the pascii117blishers and Google with the hope that we can arrive at a settlement within the coascii117rts parameters that makes sense for all parties.'