From The New York Times
Book Ruling Cuts Options for Google
By Claire Cain Miller
SAN FRANCISCO — Now that a judge has curtailed Google’s ambitions to create a giant digital bookstore and library, the company is left with few appealing options.
Google and groups representing publishers and authors were assessing their options Wednesday, trying to figure out whether they would remain allies or become enemies again....
“The publishers have said, ‘We want to settle,’ but Google’s motivation to settle is quite a bit lower,” said Pamela Samuelson, an expert in digital copyright law [and professor in the School of Information and the School of Law] at the University of California, Berkeley, who has opposed the settlement. Still, she said, Google, which has already scanned 15 million books, is unlikely to give up. “The next thing to do is think about going to Congress and getting legislation that would make particularly orphan works available to the public,” she said....
Congress has twice considered legislation to address orphan works, spurred on by a 2006 report by the United States Copyright Office that recommended free use of orphan works if there had been a diligent search for the owner. But the legislation was stymied because policy makers were waiting for the outcome of the Google Books settlement, Professor Samuelson said....