San Francisco: A growing chorus of authors, academics and other book industry figures is objecting to the settlement of a class-action suit that would allow Google Inc. to profit from digital versions of millions of books it has scanned from libraries.

When the settlement was announced last October, Google and the groups representing authors and publishers who had originally sued the company hailed the agreement as a public good.

In the latest objection, Scott E. Gant, an author and partner at Boies, Schiller and Flexner Llp., a prominent Washington law firm, plans to file a sweeping opposition to the settlement urging the court to reject it.

“This is a predominantly commercial transaction and one that should be undertaken through the normal commercial process, which is negotiation and informed consent,” Gant said. Google and its partners are “trying to ram this through so that millions of copyright holders will have no idea that this is happening”.

The court has set a 4 September deadline for briefs on the settlement and has scheduled a hearing for early October.

©2009/THE NEW YORK TIMES