UPDATE 1-Google, Authors try to answer book deal concerns
* Book class size limited to U.S., Australia, Canada, UK
* Google preference on potential deals eliminated
* Independent named to handle unclaimed funds
WASHINGTON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Google (GOOG.O) and theAuthors Guild filed a new version of a deal to create a massiveonline library on Friday in hopes that changes will answerpossible antitrust and copyright concerns in the United Statesand overseas.
Amendments to the settlement were crafted after extensivemeetings with the Justice Department, according to theparties.
Google's plan to put millions of books online has beenpraised for bringing broad access to books but has also beencriticized on antitrust, copyright and privacy grounds.
In one shift, money from unclaimed or orphan works will goto an independent fiduciary rather than go to the registry,according to a court filing made by the parties late onFriday.
The Justice Department, in September, had singled out thatarrangement as a conflict of interest since it was the registrywhich was also tasked with locating writers and paying them fortheir online sales.
INTERNATIONAL OBJECTIONS
Also, books in the registry and covered by the deal werereduced to those copyrighted in the United States or publishedin Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.
There had been significant international objection to thedeal on the grounds that non-English speaking authors, inparticular, were represented by the authors and publishers whosued Google but had no say in the negotiating of the deal.
The deal is designed to settle a 2005 class action lawsuitfiled against Google by authors and publishers who had accusedthe search engine giant of copyright infringement for scanninglibraries full of books.
In mid-September, the U.S. Justice Department urged a NewYork court to reject the plan because there was a "significantpotential" that the division would eventually decide thesettlement broke antitrust law. It also had concerns aboutviolations of copyright law.
Critics of the deal have been a varied group that includesYahoo (YHOO.O), Amazon (AMZN.O), Microsoft (MSFT.O), theNational Writers Union, Consumer Watchdog and singer ArloGuthrie.
The case is Authors Guild et al v Google Inc 05-08136 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York(Manhattan) (Reporting by Diane Bartz, Editing by Sandra Maler)
Source: Reuters
