Citing unnamed sources, the Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported on Tuesday that the antitrust issues related to Google's proposed settlement of Google Book Search lawsuits with authors and publishers, are being scrutinized by the Justice Department.

Of late, the Justice Department lawyers have got in touch with the various groups - like the Internet Archive and Consumer Watchdog - that have gone up against the settlement. In addition, the lawyers have notified the parties to the settlement, including Google and the representatives for the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild. The department has also given the authors an additional four-year period to mull over the settlement.

As per the terms of the October-proposed settlement, Google gets the right to show content from books online, which are still in copyright but not in print any longer, thereby paying the copyright holders for online sales of their books. Though authors and publishers can opt out of the proposed settlement, in case they do not, they are considered part of it.

Apprehending that Google will get through the settlement, Robert Darnton - head librarian of Harvard University - said: "The class-action character of the settlement makes Google invulnerable to competition. If approved, the settlement will give Google control over the digitizing of virtually all books covered by copyright in the US."