Google deal on books under fire

The New Haven Register | Sept 16 2002 | Cara Baruzzi

[Brugmansian]

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is asking a federal judge in New York to amend a proposed $125 million settlement that would allow Google Inc. to create a huge online library of millions of books, claiming the agreement clashes with state laws

[Brugmansian]

Blumenthal wants the money Google earns from books the copyright of which has expired or books whose authors cannot be found to go to the state of Connecticut. The agreement Blumenthal is contesting allows Google to put those funds in a "Book Rights Registry" and spend them, Blumenthal says, with “unfettered, unlawful discretion".

[iowamark]

Wealthy Socialist AG Blumenthal afraid of the proles getting too much access to books.

[zeugma]

Blumenthal wants the money Google earns from books the copyright of which has expired or books whose authors cannot be found to go to the state of Connecticut.

Another statist looking for unearned income. Someone needs to explaing the concept of "public domain" to this moron.

If the state wants to generate income from public domain books, they are welcome to scan them, and post them online just like google.

BTW Project Gutenberg has been scanning out-of-copyright books and making them available for free download since the 80s. There is a huge selection there.

[dr_who]

Agreed. To call Google a “monopoly” shows us how much f***ed up copyright law, regulators, and the courts have become. They may even claim to be working in the interests of consumers, but they’re really just enforcing a cartel for the benefit of the major players in it.