And The Hits Keep Coming…

In the lead up to February’s ruling, we’ve seen an avalanche of objections from authors, unions, academics and foreign governments.  This morning we can add a tidal wave of opposition from India to the list.

In a submission to Judge Chin, Indian authors and publishers, along with the Indian Reprographic Rights Organization (IRRO) and Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP) demanded that Google be forced to uphold the principles that govern copyright law and intellectual property.

“The Google Book Settlement is contrary to every international treaty that governs Copyright laws. Google’s unilateral conduct is a brazen attempt to turn Copyright law on its head, by usurping the exclusive rights of the Copyright holder,” says Siddharth Arya, legal counsel for IRRO.

Beyond an objection to the general disregard shown for copyright holders, the opponents outlined how the ruling impacts audiences far beyond U.S. shores.

The current scope of GBS2.0 is books that are either registered with the United States Copyright Office or published in the UK, Canada and Australia. However, it as much impacts the rest of the world as any author published in the aforementioned countries is included in the settlement. In the current global economy, Indian authors like to see themselves published abroad for higher royalties and better professional services.

Bottom line, the GBS is causing the United States’ international partners to question our commitment to protecting intellectual property.  The opposition is yet another reminder of what a truly disruptive and harmful idea the GBS has become.