On the heels of Google's announcement today that it would let third-party retailers sell the out-of-print books included in the Google Books Settlement, the head of the U.S. Copyright Office told the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee that the office opposes the settlement.

"To allow a commercial entity to sell such works without consent is an end-run around copyright law as we know it," said Marybeth Peters at hearing to discuss the deal.

Under the settlement, Google would be allowed to display and sell works whose rights holders had not identified themselves. In effect, Peters says, doing these things without rights holder permission is "indisputably an act of copyright infringement."

Peters also said the settlement "would encroach" on Congress' traditional responsibility for setting copyright policy.

Google Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond said the assertion that the settlement encroaches on Congress' purview was "flatly wrong."

"The settlement does not establish new copyright law," Drummond said. "The settlement represents the progress of science to tackle copyright challenges and help ensure millions of out-of-print books do not fade into oblivion."