Google to Cut European Titles in US online Market

Summary: Books that are still on sale in Europe will be removes by Google in its US online market after European authors and publishers decided to stop the sale in the other side of the Atlantic.

Google said that it will have to wait for the decision of the European Commission before it could continue sale of several million titles.

Internet giant Google Inc. on Wednesday announced that it will be removing European books offered in its United States online market, saying that there are still millions of titles in the country that are already out-of-print.

It will be recalled that European publishers came into an agreement to stop the sale of out-of-print books in the US despite calls by various businesses and groups to stop the “big landgrab” of out-of copyright book stocks, which sum up to nine million.

Google said that it will still have to negotiate with the publishers and authors in Europe to continue sale of some three million titles that’s being sold in the US online market.

“Under the said settlement, books and other titles that are commercially being sold in Europe will also be treated as commercially available in the US and other parts of the world where there is an available online book market,” Google said.

Google added that sale and display of books to US consumers can only be allowed under authorization of rights holders. The Internet giant issued the statement days before the scheduled meeting of the European Union over the issue of book sale in the US.

But Google stressed that it will do everything in its capability to make the deal possible. If approved by the commission, European publishers and authors will again be available in its online market.