ASPIRING GALACTIC LIBRARIAN Google's bid to scan every word and image in existence for its Google Books online library is a noble gesture.

But it seems there's a gaggle of photographers who see a chance to brace Google for additional payment for their published work.

They have banded together under the auspices of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) and the Association of American Publishers (AAP) to sue Google for copyright infringement.

Google already has a case pending with the AAP that was originally filed in 2005. That legal wrangle was over scanned words and the ASMP was told by US courts that it couldn't join a pending case.

So as Reuter's reported yesterday, ASMP's photographic brethren are seeking separate legal action. This time it's for images scanned by photographers and visual artists who haven't received compensation from Google.

"This case is about fairness and compensation," said James McGuire, a partner for ASMP's law firm, Mishcon de Reya.

This lawsuit is the culmination of the ASMP's ongoing battle with Google since last year. Victor S. Perlman, the ASMP's general counsel and managing director said in a statement released in 2009, "The vast majority of photographers and graphic artists, whose works have been and continue to be digitised by Google without authorisation, and who have been members of the plaintiffs' class since June 2006, would neither receive compensation for past infringement nor any benefit going forward."

We spoke to Google today about the lawsuit and a spokesman said," We are confident that Google Books is fully compliant with international copyright law."

"Google Books is an historic effort to make all of the knowledge contained within the world's books searchable online. It exposes readers to information they might not otherwise see, and it provides authors and publishers with a new way to be found," he added. µ