World Governments Accuse Google Of Copyright Infringement

October 23. 2009

Google HQ

The Chinese, German and French governments have correctly accused Google of copyright infringement, in scanning 10,000,000 books, by authors all over the world, without permission.

Google's book scanning endeavor, has prompted legal action in numerous world courts, as they did not obtain the consent of copyright holders before embarking on this endeavor.

The U.S. Government, by way of the Copyright Office/Library Of Congress, has also denounced Google's book scanning project, stating it took away the rights of copyright holders.

The Judiciary Report agrees that the corporate behemoth, Google, should have obtained the permission of copyright holders, before undertaking this massive project. It unintentionally sent the signal that copyright infringement is okay, when it is not.

Many books now appear on the internet for free and pop up in regular searches on numerous topics and celebrities, eliminating the need to purchase the actual book.

This hurts writers all over the globe, who are not being compensated for their copyrighted works. The proposed Google settlement is too small and accurate records of how many times each scanned book was viewed should be provided to gauge the full extent of the financial damage.

The Judiciary Report is all for progress and technological advancement, believing scanning is a great step forward, but within the scope of the law. Obtain permission first.

Side Bar: Speaking of Google News. Someone removed the Judiciary Report from Google News weeks ago, after it had been accepted in the program with a few news articles from the site beginning to appear in search results in Google News.

Apparently, a certain crazy pop tart, Madonna, was angry the site received additional coverage and in her usual misconduct, violated the Civil Rights Act once again, in having it removed from Google News. Madonna's staff at Digilink pulled a similar stunt with the site's WordPress blog, which was later reinstated - a site Madonna's hackers at Digilink have been tampering with, to obscure the page's text.

China authors say Google violated copyrights

Thu Oct 22, 2009 6:06pm EDT, Saturday, 10 Oct 2009 11:09am EDT - SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A group representing authors in China has accused Google of violating copyrights with its digital library, a claim that Google denies by saying the service complies with international law.

Many major publishers and authors have taken up lawsuits against Google for its digitization of their works, accusing Google of copyright infringement. Google has already digitized 10 million books.

The China Written Works Copyright Society (CWWCS) believes Google scanned thousands of books, by over 500 Chinese authors, into its digital library without their permission or compensation, said spokesman Chen Qirong.

"Whether you are a small company or big company you still need to respect the copyright of the authors," Chen said...

http://www.reuters.com

Google, French publishers face off in court

Thu Sep 24, 2009 1:59pm EDT - PARIS (Reuters) - Major publishers accused Google Thursday of "brutally" exploiting France's literary heritage as they launched a court challenge to the Internet giant's drive to scan digital copies of books and put extracts online.

Publishing house La Martiniere, the French Publishers' Association and authors' group SGDL asked a Paris court to fine Google 15 million euros ($22.09 million) and 100,000 euros for each day it continues to violate copyright by digitizing their books.

The trial caps a three-year challenge to what publishers say is the web giant's 2005 plan to create a massive online library without prior approval.

"It's an anarchic way of brutally stockpiling French heritage," Yann Colin, the publishers' lawyer, told the court.

"Digitizing is reproduction," he added. "Once it is digitized, you can't undo it."...

http://www.reuters.com

Germany criticizes Google for copyright infringement

Sat Oct 10, 2009 11:20am EDT - BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday criticized the efforts of Google Inc to build a massive digital library, saying the Internet should not be exempt from copyright laws.

In her weekly video podcast, before Tuesday's opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair, Merkel appealed for more international cooperation on copyright protection and said her government opposed Google's drive to scan libraries full of books.

"The German government has a clear position: copyrights have to be protected in the Internet," Merkel said, adding there are "considerable dangers" for copyright protection in the Internet.

"That's why we reject the scanning in of books without any copyright protection -- like Google is doing. The government places a lot of weight on this position on copyrights to protect writers in Germany."

Google has already digitized 10 million books.

Merkel, who will open the world's largest book fair in Germany's financial capital, said there was a need to discuss the issue in greater detail in international institutions...

http://www.reuters.com

Top US copyright cop opposes Google book deal

SAN FRANCISCO — The nation's top copyright official has joined the mounting opposition to a class-action settlement that would give Google Inc. the digital rights to millions of out-of-print books.

Her objections cast further doubt on whether the agreement will be allowed by a federal court, even as Google offered a concession Thursday aimed at smoothing the way for approval.

Parts of the settlement are "fundamentally at odds with the law," Marybeth Peters, head of the U.S. Copyright Office, testified in a House Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday that was webcast. She also expressed concerns that the settlement would undermine Congress' ability to govern copyrights and could have "serious international implications" for books published outside the United States...

"The so-called settlement would create mechanisms by which Google could continue to scan with impunity, well into the future, and to our great surprise, create yet additional commercial products without the prior consent of rights holders," Peters wrote in a more comprehensive written statement submitted to the Judiciary Committee...

The open-ended nature of the settlement is "tantamount to creating a private compulsory license," Peters wrote, something she believes could circumvent the authority of Congress.

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