Whilst Google expressed that the move would “unlock access to millions of books”, the scheme has already run into large debate. Originally instigated in 2004, it was quickly put on hold after Google were sued by the Authors Guild of American and Association of American Publishers expressing “massive copyright infringement.” Paying a $125m fine to begin a Book Rights Registry, a fairness hearing is now dated for February 18th.

Concerns are held by both publishers and individual authors, with Judge Denny Chin receiving a letter from writer Ursula K Le Guin asking for the US to be excluded from any deal. “Google, like any other publisher or entity, should be required to obtain permission from the owner to purchase or use copyrighted material, item by item,” she explained.

Whilst Ms Le Guin’s letter managed to gain 365 countersignatures, some authors back Google’s plans. Both Simon Winchester and Amy Tan expressed support by the move which would bring literature to thousands of people. Meanwhile a Google spokesperson expressed “If approved by the court, this settlement stands to unlock access to millions of books in the US while giving authors and publishers new ways to distribute their work.”

Arguing that publishers can not longer take large cuts as the need for shipping, printing and storage diminishes, a number of authors have backed a scheme where they will see 75per cent in royalties for e-book sales. Talks come ahead of Apple’s unveiling of their iSlate, a revolutionary new digital reader which experts believe could change the publishing world in similar ways that the iPod changed the music sector.

However, the iSlate’s predicted high cost of around £620 will, initially, make it out of reach for many. In addition Ebooks are currently not much cheaper than their paperback alternatives at an average cost of £6. Authors however, are fighting their corner in a bid to increase earnings and not lose out as their works take on a digital form. With one publisher estimating that Ebooks will equal at least 50per cent of all book sales by 2020 and Amazon revealing that Christmas Day sales of Ebooks were greater than print, publishers are paying serious attention.

Representing almost 8,500 British authors, the Society of Authors Tom Holland explained that the average royalty for an Ebook should be 50per cent, with better known authors earning 75per cent. “We recognise that there is a risk here to the entire structure of publishing as it has existed for decades,” he said, adding “It is hard to see what it is about the selling of an Ebook that entitles the publisher to cream off such an exorbitant share of the revenue.”

Meanwhile Amazon announced that they would offer 70per cent or royalties to authors who wanted to self publish through their website.

The rise of the e-reader has certainly been dramatic. As Amazon revealed that the device had been 2009’s most gifted item, Forrester Research estimated that the online company’s sales of e-readers accounted for 60per cent of the market. Meanwhile Sony came in second with an approximate 35per cent share.

It is also expected that the Las Vegas based International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) will also showcase the growing e-reader market. CES revealed that a designated area for companies dealing in these devices would be created, allowing for thousands of bloggers, journalists and analysts to access new devices. Director for research of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) Shawn DuBravac said “Expect to see significant offerings in the e-reader category over the next few days,” adding that he expected annual sales to have reached 16 million by 2014.

Whilst Amazon first launched the Kindle in the US back in 2007, with their second model released earlier this year, it took until October 19th for a European version to arrive on UK shores. However, after being launched in America in March 2009, the Kindle iPhone app has now also arrived in Britain, signalling the increasing demand for e-book readers and synching software. Opening the app to another 60 countries, the app is free to download and, using Whispersync technology, allows users to sync e-book papers across a range of Kindle devices.

Vice president of Amazon Kindle Ian Freed said “We are excited to make the Kindle for iPhone App available to iPhone and iPod touch users in more than 60 countries, allowing them to access the vast selection of the most popular books, all available wirelessly from the Kindle Store. The Kindle for iPhone App is the perfect companion for customers who own a Kindle or Kindle DX, and a great way for customers around the world to download and read books even if they don’t yet have a Kindle.”

Similar to the Kindle device itself, the iPhone application has a wide variety of features including the ability to download and purchase book and sample texts, view and add notes, along with perusing a full library of e-book purchases. It can be downloaded now from the iTunes store.

The move was prompted after Amazon removed the e-books from owner’s libraries earlier in the year. After discovering that some volumes of the novels had been added to kindle libraries by a publisher who was unauthorized, Amazon removed all copies, even those legitimate ones, resulting in outcry by customers who had purchased the eBooks for viewing. Whilst receiving wide spread criticism, Amazon also saw a lawsuit filed against them by a student who claimed the deletion of the books had also removed all of his class notes.

In a bid to regain customer confidence, CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos emailed all Kindle owners saying “This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our ’solution’ to the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is wholly self-inflicted, and we deserve the criticism we’ve received. We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that match our mission.”

Procedures for regaining copies were then put in place, with Kindle owners who had bought copies of both ‘1984’ and ‘Animal Farm’ now able to email kindle-response@amazon.com. Whilst a $30 gift certificate or cheque is offered, Amazon has provided added annotations to the e-books if replacements are obtained.

Featuring a 7” touch screen, the ability for store nearly 1000 novels, and an application to “borrow” books from libraries in the local area, Sony’s latest model comes in at £250, that’s £90 less than Amazon’s Kindle. The Kindle DX, Amazon’s recent product which double screen size from previous products and allows users to access to 46 newspapers, has dominated the e-reader market.

Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps wrote on her blog “By going open, Sony helps compensate for its biggest weakness: its lacklustre eBookstore, which pales in comparison with Amazon.com.” She added that the Reader Daily Edition “makes the Kindle look like an oversized calculator.”

Revealing that they had made a deal with AT&T, a network operator in the US, to provide high speed downloads, Sony also spoke of the new borrowing feature. “At the end of the library’s lending period, e-books simply expire, so there are never any late fees,” they announced. They also added that deals with newspapers, which would also rival the Kindle DX’s paper range, would be announced later this year, whilst the product itself would be released in the US in December, allowing for the holiday period.