The Bookseller.com

4th July 2009

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Google set to push deal outside US

13.11.08 Graeme Neill

Google is to "actively work" with publishers outside the United States to implement a deal, similar to the provisional agreement signed with US publishers, enabling web users to browse and buy millions of titles online.

Google has also responded to yesterday's attack on the deal by the UK Booksellers Association. The BA said if it was to be introduced to the UK the deal "would have a hugely damaging effect on the publishing and bookselling industry and, consequently, on authors and the public as well", and "if abused, could easily create a de facto monopoly". But Google denied the provisional arrangement would lead to a monopoly. "There is already an active online market that publishers, retailers, and aggregators have been developing for many years," said a spokesperson. "This is a non-exclusive agreement that was structured in a manner to encourage competition."

UK publishers expect Google to start working on a comparable deal once the US court reaches a decision on last month’s provisional agreement. A ruling is expected within the next few weeks. The BA said that whatever was agreed in the US would soon end up in "Europe and further afield".

Santiago de la Mora, partnerships head for Google Book Search in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, stressed the deal was still subject to court approval in the US. "We have not agreed anything beyond our current deal with the Author's Guild, and the AAP (Association of American Publishers)," he said, stating that there were "currently no plans to develop a similar scheme in the UK or anywhere else". But he added: "We will be actively working with rightsholders on ways to extend the benefits of this agreement to other countries."

Google provisionally agreed to pay $125m to settle a five-year dispute last month. If the deal is given court approval in the US, users will be able to search and preview millions of additional titles, including out-of-print books, via Google’s online Book Search programme. Money will be made from advertising, subscriptions and sales and will be split 63:37 between the rightsholders and Google.

In defending the settlement, Google added that its Books Rights Registry—an independent, not-for-profit organisation that would locate and distribute payments to rightsholders—would be able to work with any third-party business wishing to provide online access to titles.

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