Judge rejects Google's attempt to create a universal library [View All]

[FLPanhandle]

http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/22/technology/google_books_lawsuit/index.htm

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Google's vision of a universal library archiving all books ever published on Earth is once again at odds with laws protecting the authors of those books.

A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a settlement deal Google hammered out with publishers over its controversial Google Books archive, saying the proposed agreement went too far in giving Google control over the digitalization of books.

"The question presented is whether the is fair, adequate, and reasonable," Judge Denny Chin of the U.S. District Court in New York City wrote in his 48-page ruling. "I conclude that it is not."

The decision is the latest twist in a saga that is helping to shape the legal and commercial landscape around digital publishing.

Google's stated mission is "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." As part of that goal, it struck a deal in 2004 with several major libraries to digitally copy the books in their collections. The company now has an archive of more than 12 million publications.

To those who want information to be online and accessible, that's a great idea. To publishers -- and many of the authors they work with -- it's a terrifying one.



Eventually books will be like music; easily available without the need for a "distributor".