More and more, it's shaping up to be Google versus the world as far as the proposed Google Books settlement is concerned.  In fact, the head of the U.S. Copyright Office sided against Google today, and she seemed to consider that scenario is a real possibility.

Marybeth Peters, who's the official U.S. Register of Copyrights, stated during a House Judiciary Committee hearing, "[I]t is our view that the proposed settlement inappropriately creates something similar to a compulsory license for works, unfairly alters the property interests of millions of rights holders of out-of-print works without any Congressional oversight, and has the capacity to create diplomatic stress for the United States."

Peters also said, "We are greatly concerned by the parties' end run around legislative process and prerogatives, and we submit that this Committee should be equally concerned."

Peters has held her position for over 15 years, so her recommendations may carry quite a bit of weight.  Moreover, she's a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Copyright Society of the U.S.A., the Intellectual Property Section of the American Bar Association, the International Technology Law Association, and the U.S. chapter of the Association litteraire et artistique internationale.

A federal court will try to arrive at a decision regarding the Google Books settlement on October 7th.