By Jonathan Thaw and Susan Decker
Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc. will subpoena information from Yahoo! Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. to help fight copyright lawsuits over its book-scanning project.
Google, the world's most-used search engine, is seeking information on rival projects by the companies, including book lists, costs, estimated sales, dealings with publishers and possible benefit or harm to copyright owners, according to papers filed in U.S. District Court in New York.
Publishers and authors have sued Google, claiming the Mountain View, California-based company doesn't have the right to make copies of books without permission. Google says it is complying with copyright law because the search engine shows only ``snippets'' of protected books to the public. Google said it would keep subpoenaed information confidential.
``We have also made clear to these organizations that we will work with them to address any concerns about their confidential information,'' Google spokeswoman Megan Lamb said in an e-mail. The judge in the case has issued a protective order to restrict who can see confidential documents, she said.
Google also said it will work with the companies to address concerns about their confidential information. Microsoft spokesman Jack Evans, Amazon spokeswoman Patty Smith and Yahoo spokeswoman Mary Osako didn't have immediate comments.
Shares of Google fell $3.89 to $411.81 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. The shares have fallen less than 1 percent this year.
Microsoft and Yahoo announced plans to scan library books a year ago. Both companies are part of a group called the Open Content Alliance, which includes the U.K. National Archives and the University of California.
`Search Inside'
Amazon.com, the world's largest online retailer, offers a feature called ``Search Inside'' that lets users search for specific terms and view a limited number of pages. Publishers need to enroll and submit books to be included in the project.
Google, which doesn't disclose how many books it has scanned, also wants to know the title, authors and copyright status of books already offered through competitors' book projects, according to the documents.
The company also is seeking information from Random House Inc., HarperCollins Publishers Inc., Holtzbrinck Publishers and the Association of American Publishers.
The subpoena notices were filed with the court yesterday and on Sept. 29. On Sept. 26, U.S. District Judge John Sprizzo issued an order that any information gathered in the case would be used only for litigation purposes.
`Shoddy Business Model'
The Association of American Publishers, which is coordinating legal action on behalf of publishing houses, doesn't object to Google signing agreements with individual publishers, said association spokeswoman Judith Platt. The problem comes when entire libraries are copied without regard to the owners of those copyrights.
``We are not objecting to the very lofty goal of the library project,'' Platt said in an interview. ``What we object to is what we see is a shoddy business model.''
Google says anyone who doesn't want their work copied can opt out of the project. Platt said U.S. copyright law puts the burden on would-be copiers to seek permission.
Google's book scanning project, started in December 2004, includes titles from seven libraries including Stanford University and Harvard University.
Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, said a year ago it planned to offer a search engine for books called MSN Book Search. The Redmond, Washington-based company said at the time it would initially scan out-of-copyright titles.
Yahoo, the most-visited U.S. Internet site, has also announced plans for a database of scanned books and said it would only scan works with copyright holders' consent or books that are out of copyright.
The cases are The Author's Guild v. Google Inc., 05cv8136 and the McGraw-Hill Cos. v Google Inc., 05cv8881, both U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
