[A2k] NYT: Justice Dept. Opens Antitrust Inquiry Into Google Books Deal

[Meredith Filak]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/technology/internet/29google.html?th&emc=
=3Dth


April 29, 2009

Justice Dept. Opens Antitrust Inquiry Into Google Books Deal
By MIGUEL HELFT
SAN FRANCISCO =E2=80=94 The Justice Department has begun an inquiry into th=
e
antitrust implications of Google=E2=80=99s settlement with authors and
publishers over its Google Book Search service, two people briefed on
the matter said Tuesday.

Lawyers for the Justice Department have been in conversations in recent
weeks with various groups opposed to the settlement, including the
Internet Archive and Consumer Watchdog. More recently, Justice
Department lawyers notified the parties to the settlement, including
Google, and representatives for the Association of American Publishers
and the Authors Guild, that they were looking into various antitrust
issues related to the far-reaching agreement.

The inquiry does not necessarily mean that the department will oppose
the settlement, which is subject to a court review. But it suggests that
some of the concerns raised by critics, who say the settlement would
unfairly give Google an exclusive license to profit from millions of
books, have resonated with the Justice Department.

A spokeswoman for the Justice Department was not immediately available
to comment. A spokesman for Google declined to comment. Representatives
for the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild could
not immediately be reached.

The settlement agreement stems from a class action filed in 2005 by the
Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers against Google.
The suit claimed that Google=E2=80=99s practice of scanning copyrighted boo=
ks
from libraries for use in its Book Search service was a violation of
copyrights.

The settlement, announced in October, gives Google the right to display
the books online and to profit from them by selling access to individual
texts and selling subscriptions to its entire collection to libraries
and other institutions. Revenue would be shared among Google, authors
and publishers.

But critics say that Google alone would have a license that covers
millions of so-called orphan books, whose authors cannot be found or
whose rights holders are unknown. Some librarians fear that with no
competition, Google will be free to raise prices for access to the
collection.

Separately on Tuesday, Judge Denny Chin of Federal District Court in New
York, who is overseeing the settlement, postponed by four months the May
5 deadline for authors to opt out of the settlement and for other
parties to oppose it or file briefs. The decision follows requests by
groups of authors and their heirs, who argued that authors needed more
time to review the settlement.

Google, as well as the authors and publishers, have defended the
settlement, saying it will bring benefits to authors, publishers and the
public. They say it will renew access to millions of out-of-print books.

If the Justice Department decides to take action against the settlement,
it will not be the first time that Google has found itself in the sights
of federal regulators. Last year, Google abandoned a prominent
advertising partnership with Yahoo after the department threatened to go
to court to block the deal.

The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission have wrangled
over jurisdiction over the book settlement, and the Justice Department
won out, according to a person familiar with the inquiry.