Google's legal battle to create a digital library of the worlds books hit another snag Wednesday when photographers and illustrators filed suit claiming the Mountain View, California, search giant was unlawfully scanning and posting their works online without permission or payment.
The suit brought by the American Society of Media Photographers and others claims Google should compensate them because the company is violating their copyrights (.pdf). Photographers and illustrators largely have been shut out from participating in a pending $125 million court settlement between Google and writers over the same issue.
If there is going to be a system developed to manage the compensation for these types of books, we felt visual artists need to be represented, Eugene Mopsik, the executive director of the American Society of Media Photographers, said in telephone interview. We have been totally excluded. We want a seat at the table.
The new lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, seeks class action status to represent what could number thousands of artists. It comes as Google and writers are embroiled in a 5-year-old lawsuit over Googles move to digitize the worlds literature.
For the most part, Google, the Authors Guild, and other writers and publishing groups have agreed to allow Google to scan their works, sell them on the internet and have them pop up in search results. The rights holders get 67 percent of the take, and Google the remainder.
Mopsik said photographers and illustrators want a piece of the money pie.
Our situation is pretty much identical to the authors, he said.
The suit brought by the American Society of Media Photographers and others claims Google should compensate them because the company is violating their copyrights (.pdf). Photographers and illustrators largely have been shut out from participating in a pending $125 million court settlement between Google and writers over the same issue.
If there is going to be a system developed to manage the compensation for these types of books, we felt visual artists need to be represented, Eugene Mopsik, the executive director of the American Society of Media Photographers, said in telephone interview. We have been totally excluded. We want a seat at the table.
The new lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, seeks class action status to represent what could number thousands of artists. It comes as Google and writers are embroiled in a 5-year-old lawsuit over Googles move to digitize the worlds literature.
For the most part, Google, the Authors Guild, and other writers and publishing groups have agreed to allow Google to scan their works, sell them on the internet and have them pop up in search results. The rights holders get 67 percent of the take, and Google the remainder.
Mopsik said photographers and illustrators want a piece of the money pie.
Our situation is pretty much identical to the authors, he said.
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