Google has a bit more work to do before it rules the digital book world.
U.S. Circuit Court judge Denny Chin has struck down a $125 million settlement the company had reached with the Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers and others over concerns it "would grant Google significant rights to exploit entire books, without permission of copyright owners" and give it a "significant advantage over competitors, rewarding it for engaging in wholesale copying of copyrighted works without permission."
As widely reported, the deal had a long list of opponents, including Amazon, Microsoft, Yahoo! as well as the U.S., French and German governments.
The Justice Department, Reuters reported, was concerned about rights granted to Google for so-called "orphan works." The deal gave Google the right to market works where copyrights were in place but the holder could not be found.
As part of the settlement with the authors and publishing groups, Bloomberg News reported, Google would publish "orphan works" and include links to various other sites such as Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble for purchase.
"This is clearly disappointing, but we'll review the court's decision and consider our options," said Hilary Ware, managing counsel for Google, in an emailed statement. "Like many others, we believe this agreement has the potential to open up access to millions of books that are currently hard to find in the U.S. today."
The New York Times reported that Google has already digitized around 15 million books whose copyright protection has expired.
Paul Aiken, executive director of the Authors Guild, told the Times that it was not clear what would happen next. "The judge did expressly leave the door open for a revised settlement," he said.