FT reports google is trying to appease european publishers, and saying it will negotiate with them before making available European-printed books:
A spokesperson for Google on Monday said: ”The parties to the Settlement Agreement have sent a letter to several national publisher associations in Europe to clarify that books that are commercially available in Europe will be treated as commercially available under the Settlement. Such books can only be displayed to US users if expressly authorised by rights holders.”
The European Commission is holding hearings on Monday on how it should respond to the deal. The 27-member bloc is trying to work out whether legislation is required to facilitate the digitisation of European culture.
Google’s concessions, in a statement signed by representatives of authors and publishers with whom it is negotiating the class-action settlement, are designed to give more control to European rights-holders nervous about the exploitation of their work in the US.