Google has offered to open its digital library to rivals
in another bid to save its controversial deal with US publishers
and authors to scan millions of out-of-print books.
The offer comes less than a week after Google said it would give
Europe a greater say in the way online booksales are governed to
counter European opposition to the deal.
European stakeholders have been meeting in Brussels this week to
discuss Google's book-scanning deal and a strategy for the
digitisation of the region's libraries.
Growing US opposition prompted a
congressional hearing in Washington yesterday ahead of the
Department of Justice's submission to a New York court set to rule
on the legality of the deal.
France and Germany have
recently made submissions to the US court, outlining their
objections to the deal because of the effect it could have on
international copyright law.
Microsoft and Yahoo have since
joined forces with Amazon and the
Open Content
Alliance in opposing the deal on the grounds that it will give
Google an unfair advantage in the online book selling market.
In yesterday's hearing, Google said it will let other online
retailers sell books from its digital library. Google said it would
deduct 67% of the retailers' proceeds of sales for authors and
publishers, after which the online retailer would receive more than
half of the remainder.
"Google will host the digital (out-of-print) books online, and
retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble or your local
bookstore will be able to sell access to users on any Internet-
connected device they choose," Google said in a statement.
But lawyers for opponents of the deal rejected the offer because
Google will still maintain control over the books and extend the
firm's monopoly, according to the
Financial Times.
Marybeth Peters of the US Copyright Office told the hearing
that, if approved, Google's deal with authors and publishes will
alter the landscape of copyright law, according to
Reuters.
The settlement would bind authors, publishers, their heirs and
successors to these rules and allow Google to scan out-of-print
books without seeking permission from the copyright holders, she
said.