Authors Guild urges NY federal appeals court to make Google reward authors of digital books

An Authors Guild lawyer has urged a New York federal appeals court to force Google Inc. to reward authors for including their books in the world's largest digital library.

Attorney Paul Smith for the authors argued Wednesday before a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He said there was no evidence that Google's project helps authors sell books. A lawyer for the Mountain View, California-based company countered that the library exists so readers can find books.

The Authors Guild had appealed a judge's ruling tossing its lawsuit contending that the Internet giant is violating copyright laws.

The author's group wants Google to pay $750 for each of the more than 20 million copyright books it has already copied.

The appeals court did not immediately rule.