Google book deal prompts EU copyright law overhaul

Valerie | 09 Sep 2009, 20:08

Google’s controversial plan to digitise the world’s leading libraries took on a European dimension this week when Brussels announced a campaign to overhaul copyright law in the European Union’s 27 countries admist fears of trailing the US in digitising culture.

European commissioners Viviane Reding and Charlie McCreevey acknowledged the need to adapt Europe’s fragmented copyright legislation in a joint statement:

“If we don’t reform our European copyright rules on orphan works and libraries swiftly, digitisation and the development of attractive content offers won’t take place in Europe, but on the other side of the Atlantic.”

Although a 2005 class-action lawsuit by authors and publishers against Google led to $125m settlement and agreement on profit sharing, the agreement still needs US court approval. The long running battle has seen fierce opposition from Amazon, Microsoft, Yahoo and the German and French governments, as well as authors and their heirs, including the estates of Philip K Dick and John Steinbeck.

Microsoft warned today that the deal would give Google a stranglehold on the nascent digital book market:

“The proposed settlement confers on Google a new monopoly by authorising Google (and Google alone) to engage in the wholesale commercial exploitation of entire copyrighted books.“

Writing for the Huffington Post, David Balto, a senior Fellow at think-tank American Progress, believes that the benefits far outweigh the negatives – in this case, the anti-trust issue:

“Just as Google search (and other search engines) have revolutionised access to information, the Books project will serve as a democratising force across socioeconomic and geographic” he writes.

The ongoing battle undoubtedly brings the European copyright system into sharp focus. And as Google awaits a court ruling next month, the copyright landscape in Europe remains complex, with 27 different copyright regimes within the EU.

“We need to take a hard look at the copyright system we have today in Europe,“ the commissioners said. “Is the present framework still fit for the digital age? Will the current set of rules give consumers across Europe access to digitised books? Will it guarantee fair remuneration for authors? Will it ensure a level playing field for digitisation across Europe, or is there still too much fragmentation following national borders?“