Google may have reached a settlement deal for its Google Books venture following a class action lawsuit here in the U.S., but in Britain, the search giant is having a tougher time convincing authors to hop on board. Not only that, but several British authors — including J.K. Rowling and Philip Pullman — have threatened to boycott Google’s digital catalog.

"Why should we have to do this because Google decided to set something up which is clearly for the benefit of Google?," said Carodoc King, Mr. Pullman’s agents. "Google can’t afford to do it without the support of major authors — they have to come back with a better deal."

As it stands, the deal on the table includes paying authors $60 for every title that appears online plus a share of revenue. If there’s a magic number British authors are seeking, they haven’t said what it is, but according to Google, the current offer is is more than fair.

"We can’t speak for authors, but a number of them have decided to opt into the settlement, as they realize it creates an entirely new revenue stream," a spokesman for Google said.

Image Credit: angelingo.usc.edu

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