A federal judge ruled Google and and The Authors Guild and Association of American Publishers must renegotiate a settlement reached last year by Nov. 9. The settlement was reached in response to a lawsuit accusing Google of copyright infringement after it began to scan titles from university libraries, including the University of Michigan.

AP Photo

Google wants to build an immense digital library with millions of easy-to-search titles, a project the search engine giant has been working on for several years. 

But publishing companies, competitors, and even foreign governments are making noise to stop what they say could amount to a monopoly.

The University of Michigan Library was one of Google's original partners, though it had long worked to digitally preserve its own texts for easy searching before teaming up with the search engine.

In the latest move in the Google book battle, a federal judge set a Nov. 9 deadline for Google to revamp a deal it struck with publishing companies last October. That deal, a settlement between Mountain View, Calif.-based Google and the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild, meant to resolve the class-action lawsuit accusing Google of copyright infringement for scanning out-of-copyright books from university libraries. 

In the original settlement, Google agreed to pay up $125 million to establish an independent Books Rights Registry and resolve outstanding claims. The registry would mean publishers and authors who have agreed to digitize their books would receive revenue from sales and advertisers.

The U.S. Department of Justice stepped in last month and advised the courts to reject the original deal, saying it could decrease competition among U.S. publishers and drive up prices for consumers. According to papers filed by the Justice Department, Google might gain a monopoly on out-of-print books protected by copyright but whose writers' whereabouts are unknown, according to the Associated Press.

Now, lawyers for Google and the plaintiffs say they are working around the clock to renegotiate the settlement.

For background, the Economist ran an article in September and quotes U-M dean of libraries Paul Courant.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.