Google, Chinese writers confer on copyright

• Source: Global Times
• [08:09 November 16 2009]
• Comments

By Xu Shenglan

Google will soon meet with Chinese writers and publishers about scanning copyrighted books, a move that comes after the search engine reached a tentative settlement with some Western countries.

Google and the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers submitted a leaner version of the settlement to the US District Court in the Southern District of New York late Friday evening.

Google is attempting to scan samples of books or complete books to put online.

The revised settlement only covers books that were either registered with the US Copyright office or published in the US, UK, Australia, or Canada.

The copyright issues pertaining to Chinese books were not part of the agreement and it must be negotiated separately, according to the Beijing News.

Zhang Hongbo, deputy director-general of the China Written Works Copyright Society (CWWCS), said this is a good thing, as Chinese writers don't need to worry about the agreement reached in the US, and they can fight for their own rights.

Chinese writers' society accused Google of infringing on the copyrights of at least 570 Chinese authors by scanning and uploading about 18,000 books into its digital library last month without consent. The society has pledged to fight on behalf of authors with potential legal action.

This was the first time Chinese writers have joined Western authors to fight against Google to protect their rights, according to Forbes magazine.