Objections are increasing to Google Book Search, Google's massive effort to scan millions of books and present their contents online. The company
reached an agreement last year with the Authors Guild and Association of American Publishers to pursue the project. It is awaiting a judge's approval.... The settlement is unusual is that it essentially structures the digitized book search market while that market is in its infancy, said Bert Foer, president of the American Antitrust Institute [Reuters].
But Google is facing new obstacles in winning that judicial approval, as concerns continue to mount over how much power will be concentrated in the company's hands. The settlement would establish a revenue-sharing system and would allow Google to present the partial contents of books in the public domain, books that that are still under copyright but are out of print, and current books whose publishers have negotiated agreements with Google. But critics ...
