U.S. Judge Quashes Google Digital Book Deal

The search engine is attempting to obtain the digital rights to millions of hard-to-find books.

Google was stymied yesterday in its effort to become the librarian to the world’s largest collection of digital books. A federal judge in New York City rejected a deal reached between the company and the U.S. Authors Guild that would have allowed Google to create an online collection of rare books and works whose authors can’t be found. Judge Denny Chin said the online library would have been a benefit to many but would “simply go too far” because it would mean Google would be making money off of books without permission from the copyright owners.