Authors suing Internet search services provider Google Inc., US, over the digitising of books have reportedly asked the judge to order the company to pay $750 for each book it copied, distributed or displayed. The authors' filing, which had been lodged in federal court in the Southern District of New York in July, was made public last week.
Google is being sued over its project to scan and digitise millions of books from public and university libraries. In May, the judge had rejected the company's argument that lawsuits by the Authors Guild and the American Society of Media Photographers should be dismissed because the groups lacked standing to sue for copyright infringement.
The Authors Guild has now asked the judge for a ruling in its favour on three legal issues, one being the claim for damages of $750 a book. The Guild additionally wants a ruling that copying books isn’t a "fair use" under copyright law, as Google has said it will argue.
Google has been seeking dismissal of the suit on the grounds that authors actually benefit from the project since their books can be more readily found, bought and read, while the public gains "increased knowledge."
