The American Library Association, the Association of College and Research Libraries and the Association of Research Libraries have filed comments with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York for the judge to consider in his ruling on the proposed Google Book Search Settlement. The associations have asked the judge to exercise vigorous oversight of the interpretation and implementation of the settlement to ensure the broadest possible benefit from the services the settlement enables.
Representing over 139,000 libraries and 350,000 librarians, the associations filed the brief as members of the plaintiff class because they are both authors and publishers of books. The associations asserted that although the settlement had the potential to provide public access to millions of books, many of the features of the settlement, including the absence of competition for the new services, could compromise fundamental library values. The library values in question include equity of access to information, patron privacy and intellectual freedom. The court can mitigate these possible negative effects by regulating the conduct of Google and the Book Rights Registry the settlement establishes.
Under the settlement, Google, the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild resolved their legal dispute over the scanning of millions of books provided by research libraries. The library associations are not asking the judge to reject the settlement. Instead, they are requesting the judge to carefully monitor the parties' behaviour once the settlement takes effect.
Although the filing deadline for comments to the judge was recently extended by four months, the associations adhered to the original deadline to inform the public about an important and complex matter.
