Even after a proposed settlement plan doctored by Google Inc. with the publishers, in regards to the publishers, the U.S Department of Justice has still expressed its skepticism for the deal and has stated that, even with the new agreement, it feels that, Google would still be able to gain unfair advantage against its competitors. In November 2009, Google agreed to make concrete changes on the scrutiny of the U.S authorities to the agreement between the company and the publishers, that enabled Google to make digital copies of books and the sell them through a new sales channel. However, even after the amended agreement, the DOJ has expressed its dissatisfaction with it and states that, the new agreement could also prove to be a loss for Google’s competitors.

The landmark deal between Google and various authors and publishers would make Google the sole owner of the books that are still under copyright laws but whose authors’ whereabouts are yet unknown and would allow the company to publish the books online and sell them. And in case, if any service or publisher tries to do the same, Google will be in its full legal rights to sue the individual or the company for an amount that falls anywhere between $750 to $150,000 per infringement.

The original original lawsuit was brought upon Google by the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers, who had accused Google of violating copyright laws by scanning and publishing library books. This concern was later settled by Google with an agreement that allowed the search giant to digital the books and then sell them online either as an individual edition or via an all-you-can-read subscription.

According to the U.S Department of Justice,

“Although the United States believes the parties have approached this effort in good faith and the ASA [amended search agreement] is more circumscribed in its sweep than the original proposed settlement, the ASA suffers from the same core problem as the original agreement: it is an attempt to use the class action mechanism to implement forward-looking business arrangements that go far beyond the dispute before the Court in this litigation. Google would remain the only competitor in the digital marketplace with the rights to distribute and otherwise exploit a vast array of works in multiple formats. Google also would have the exclusive ability to exploit unclaimed works (including so-called “orphan works”) without risk of liability.”

Via LA Times