French govt warns Google over digital book project terms

France's culture minister Frederic Mitterand has warned Google it could be removed from a project to digitise the collection of the National Library of France unless it changes the terms of its book-scanning scheme, reports the Financial Times. A new independent review of Google's deals with other European libraries for the French Culture Ministry found they were stacked in Google's favour. Mitterand said the agreements involved 'excessive confidentiality, impossible exclusivity and casual clauses on copyright'. He offered Google a partnership with the French state to digitise the collections of French libraries but only if Google abandoned its exclusivity clauses, which typically run for 20-25 years. Google argues that these clauses are necessary to help secure a return on its scanning investment.