Google Books Rival Objects to Settlement

San Francisco's digital library Internet Archive opposes the current 125 million dollar Google settlement with authors and publishers that gives Google the rights to scan and sell books on the Internet.

Dismay at the fate of orphan works, estimated at some 70 percent of books being scanned, is mounting as the May 5 deadline for objections to the settlement nears.

UC-Berkeley School of Law professor Pamela Samuelson said the issue of orphaned works should be handled by legislators, not as a settlement in a class action.

"Usually if you want a compulsory license you have to go to Congress," she said.

Professor Samuelson favors a scenario in which the Internet Archieve as well as other digital libraries in addition to Google, would get a license to scan the boks and make them available online.

"I hadn't expected them to intervene," she said. "It's an interesting development -- it's going to be interesting to see how it turns out."

See more at Law.com .