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Many publishers fear that the agreement may infringe their copyrights by putting the contents freely into the public domain.

Last year Google signed a deal with leading public record offices and university libraries to digitise the contents of their books so that they could be made available to a wider public. Although this move was cheered by many, others - including a leading French librarian feared it would lead to cultural imperialism.

Also concerned were many leading publishers who still own the copyrights

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to many works. Many of the books were out of copyright, but a good many still are subject.

According to the contract Google signed with the University of Michigan, there is some ambiguity.

Both parties state they will aim to stay within the copyright laws. However, under the terms of the agreement, two digital copies will be made of those volumes and images either that are out of copyright or which the University of Michigan holds. If there is some dispute, both parties agree to remove any content until the matter is settled.

All well and good. The problem arises where it says, 'Google may use the Google Digital Copy, in whole or in part at Google's sole discretion'. Which means that the University of Michigan is giving carte blanche to copyright that it may only partially have control over - for example for some works it will have rights to allow students to make photocopies, but no more. So they may not have the right to distribute the digital copies. It is in this area that copyright holders and publishers want some kind of clarification.