At least five state attorneys general have filed briefs raising concerns about Google Inc.’s proposed legal settlement with authors and publishers, adding to a wave of criticism lodged against the high-profile deal as it nears a public hearing.

Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc., among others, have criticized the settlement, as has the head of the U.S. Copyright Office.

A Google representative declined to comment.  Read the full article.

All I want to know is this:  Will I be able to get these books on my Kindle?

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“In the view of the Copyright Office, the settlement proposed by the parties would encroach on responsibility for copyright policy that traditionally has been the domain of Congress. The settlement is not merely a compromise of existing claims, or an agreement to compensate past copying and snippet display. Rather, it could affect the exclusive rights of millions of copyright owners, in the United States and abroad, with respect to their abilities to control new products and new markets, for years and years to come. We are greatly concerned by the parties’ end run around legislative process and prerogatives, and we submit that this Committee should be equally concerned.”

“It is our view that the proposed settlement inappropriately creates something similar to a compulsory license for works, unfairly alters the property interests of millions of rights holders of out-of-print works without any Congressional oversight, and has the capacity to create diplomatic stress for the United States.”

Read the entire statement of the U.S. Register of Copyrights here.

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