Amazon Lodge Objection To Google Book Settlement

Global online retailer, Amazon, formally lodged their objection to the Google Books Settlement in the US courts yesterday. The objection comprises of a substantial document detailing Amazon’s specific points of legal argument against the Settlement.

The main points of Amazon’s objection to the agreement reached is:

1. Arguably unlawful
2. Stretches the Court’s power beyond its lawful limits to create a business arrangement of perpetual duration.
3. The agreement releases Google from claims of copyright infringement.
4. The agreement is unfair to both authors and publishers whose work becomes the subject of compulsory license for the life of copyright.
5. It contravenes antitrust laws and is anti-competitive.
6. It provides Google with a monopoly in the scanning of works for digitisation whose copyright owners cannot be contacted or do not wish to be involved in the class action.
7. The agreement effectively creates a cartel of authors and publishers through the Books Rights Registry who are free to raise book prices and reduce output to consumers from new authors and publishers.

Amazon is also a member of an anti-agreement coalition including Microsoft and Yahoo called Open Book Alliance who intend filing their own separate objection later in the week.

The Amazon objection lodged with the court yesterday can be read in full below.
http://thepublicindex.org/docs/letters/amazon.pdf

(Amazon Court Objection Document)