Authors sue Google

Google is planning to put texts contained in certain public and university libraries that have not been licensed for commercial use, online.

The Authors Guild, which represents more than 8,000 writers, says that Google cannot put its books in the public domain for commercial use without permission.

The Guild has asked a court to block Google from copying the books. It claims that if the books go online the authors will be deprived of the right to control reproduction of their works.

It wants to get a class action status for anyone with a copyright to a literary work at the University of Michigan library - which is big and is going into Google's database.

The Guild says that by copying works that are not in the public domain, Google is engaging in massive copyright infringement.

It says that Google has unlawfully reproduced the works and has announced plans to reproduce and display the books without the copyright holders' permission.

Google said that authors and publishers can exclude books from the programme if they want.

More here. µ