Microsoft and Yahoo have officially joined opponents to
Google'scontroversial dealwith US publishers and authors to
scan millions of books and make them available online.
US media
reports said submissions from the two tech companies were among
a flurry of final supporting and opposing arguments lodged with the
US court to rule on the legality of the deal.
If approved, Google will pay $125m to book publishers and
authors in return for the right to give US internet users partial
access to out-of-print books still in copyright, unless rights
holders opt out.
Money from selling full access will be split between Google and
the rights holders.
Although the deal will only cover US copyright interests, it
will involve books published elsewhere and has raised
concerns in Europe that it will affect international copyright
law and give a US company control over online access to European
learning.
European opposition
At least two European countries, France and Germany, lodged
objections to the US deal as European stakeholders gathered in
Brussels to discuss the deal and Europe's strategy for digitising
the region's libraries.
The digital books dispute has also attracted the attention of
the US government, with the House Judiciary Committee calling a
hearing on the issue tomorrow, according to the
Financial Times.
Microsoft and Yahoo joined others in opposing the deal on the
grounds that it will create a monopoly that will drive up book
prices and further boost the dominance of Google's search
engine.
Digital book monopoly
In their submission to the US court, Microsoft's lawyers accused
Google of seeking a monopoly on digital books.
"Monopolisation is the wrong means to carry out the worthy goal
of digitising and increasing the accessibility of books," they
wrote.
Yahoo's lawyers said the settlement was "not an appropriate
legislative vehicle".
The deal "covers an unascertainable, and conflicted, group of
plaintiffs" and "raises competition concerns", while also creating
"barriers to entry for future competitors to Google in presenting
books online", they said.
Google and the deal's supporters argue that it will benefit
society by making millions more books available to anyone with web
access.