Microsoft, the French government, privacy advocates and other groups filed last-minute objections Tuesday to Google's ambitious plan to scan and sell millions of books online. Batman and Superman publisher DC Comics, the National Writers Union, the National Coalition of Authors and French publisher Hachette also added their voices to the growing tide of opposition to Google's book-scanning project. Coming out in support meanwhile was Sony Electronics of Japan, maker of the electronic book reader the Sony Reader, and a group of 32 US professors of law and economics. Sony, which has an agreement with Google to make copyright-free books available on its e-reader, described the project as a “groundbreaking advancement for society” with the potential to “impact profoundly and positively the markets for both e-books and e-readers.” A US District Court in New York is to hold a “fairness hearing” on the settlement on Oct. 7 and the judge set Tuesday as the final day for the filing of briefs in the case. Germany has already registered its opposition and France followed suit on Tuesday saying the project does not conform to either “intellectual property law or to competition law and constitutes a threat to cultural diversity.” Microsoft, which abandoned its own plans to create a digital library last year, said the settlement “confers on Google a new monopoly by authorizing Google (and Google alone) to engage in the wholesale commercial exploitation of entire copyrighted books. Microsoft joined forces with Amazon and Yahoo! last month in forming an “Open Book Alliance” in opposition to the Google project, a coalition Google dubbed the “Sour Grapes Alliance.” Google's deal to digitize millions of books opens the way for others to enter the online book business, the company's chief legal officer said in testimony prepared for a congressional hearing Thursday. David Drummond, addressing critics of the project, said Google was “fully compliant with copyright law,” and access to online books could revolutionize research in schools without major libraries. He argued that the scanning of “orphan works” - books whose authors cannot be found - would make it easier for other companies to follow suit. So far, the search engine giant has scanned 10 million books, including many obtained from libraries. Some Google competitors, libraries and others said they support plans to digitize books but not the settlement.
