Nearly 7000 authors opt out of Google's book plan

Over 6500 authors have asked to be excluded from the digital books agreement that Google reached with the publishing industry, including bestselling authors Jeffrey Archer and Louis de Bernières and critical favorites Thomas Pynchon, Zadie Smith.

The requests reflect the latest in discontent stirred up by the agreement, according to opponents.

UK authors and agents who are deeply concerned about the Google book settlement, the Digital Economy Bill, and other current threats to the fundamental principles of copyright reads a campaign supporting authors rights setup by notable author Gillian Spraggs.

After a federal hearing in Manhattan last Thursday, Judge Dennis Chin delayed a ruling which could potentially allow Google to license entire libraries via their Google Books program. Authors choosing to opt out of the Google deal had to do so by January 28, 2010.

The agreement was designed to settle a class action suit brought onto Google by authors who feel that by allowing the company to scan and post books online, would violate the holders of the copyrights.

But the number of authors is relatively small compared to the large volume of books Google has digitized.

The search giant ha narrowed the scope of the settlement to works published in the US, UK, Australia and Canada and estimates that some 10 million volumes are potentially covered by the settlement.