14 DAY TRIAL // Google has sure managed to stir up a diverse group of people with Google Books. They come from all over the world and from various backgrounds, but these individuals, organizations and companies have one thing in common, they really don't like what Google is doing with the Books project and they're making themselves heard. Google's competitors filed their grievance, Chinese authors were outraged and now the Indians are joining in. A group of authors and publisher organizations from India have filed their own objections to the proposed Google Books settlement to the US judge presiding over the case.
The deadline for objections to the revised settlement proposed a couple of months ago came last week and most groups waited until the last second to file their complaints. As for the complaints themselves, there's really nothing new. The Indian Reprographic Rights Organisation and the Federation of Indian Publishers and 15 individual authors claim that the current settlement enables Google to infringe copyright laws in the US, as well as internationally.
The main issue is with the fact that authors are opted-in by default and have to specifically ask for their works to be removed from the project. It doesn't look like this group holds anything against Google Books, we haven't heard before, certainly nothing along the lines of the 'evil scheme' revealed by Microsoft, Amazon and Yahoo.
While the concern of the Indian authors is understandable, there is just one small mishap, the revised settlement refers strictly to several English-speaking countries. Despite this, the group claims that it will affect Indian authors as well, as they may wish to have their works translated and published in the countries covered by the deal. It may also deter people from buying translated versions of English books from local publishers. The revised Google Books settlement is set for a final hearing on February 18 when the judge will decide if it can go through in the current form.