Authors, publishers settle $125M Google lawsuit
p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- What’s being described as a ground-breaking settlement agreement for authors and publishers worldwide has been reached with the Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers (AAP), and Google.
“Amazing,” says Nashville entertainment lawyer Fred Wilhelms (right).
“A class action lawsuit settlement that actually looks like it will benefit someone beyond the attorneys! I think this is mentioned in Revelations as a sign of the End of Days.
“The Authors Guild and the AAP are to be commended for keeping their eyes on the prize.”
The deal will, “expand online access to millions of in-copyright books and other written materials in the U.S. from the collections of a number of major U.S. libraries participating in Google Book Search,” say the parties in a joint press statement, going on »»»
The agreement, reached after two years of negotiations, would resolve a class-action lawsuit brought by book authors and the Authors Guild, as well as a separate lawsuit filed by five large publishers as representatives of the AAP’s membership. The class action is subject to approval by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The agreement promises to benefit readers and researchers, and enhance the ability of authors and publishers to distribute their content in digital form, by significantly expanding online access to works through Google Book Search, an ambitious effort to make millions of books searchable via the Web. The agreement acknowledges the rights and interests of copyright owners, provides an efficient means for them to control how their intellectual property is accessed online and enables them to receive compensation for online access to their works.
If approved by the court, the agreement would provide:
- More Access to Out-of-Print Books — Generating greater exposure for millions of in-copyright works, including hard-to-find out-of-print books, by enabling readers in the U.S. to search these works and preview them online;
- Additional Ways to Purchase Copyrighted Books — Building off publishers’ and authors’ current efforts and further expanding the electronic market for copyrighted books in the U.S., by offering users the ability to purchase online access to many in-copyright books;
- Institutional Subscriptions to Millions of Books Online — Offering a means for U.S. colleges, universities and other organizations to obtain subscriptions for online access to collections from some of the world’s most renowned libraries;
- Free Access From U.S. Libraries — Providing free, full-text, online viewing of millions of out-of-print books at designated computers in U.S. public and university libraries; and
- Compensation to Authors and Publishers and Control Over Access to Their Works — Distributing payments earned from online access provided by Google and, prospectively, from similar programs that may be established by other providers, through a newly created independent, not-for-profit Book Rights Registry that will also locate rightsholders, collect and maintain accurate rightsholder information, and provide a way for rightsholders to request inclusion in or exclusion from the project.
Notes Wilhelms, “the devil is going to be in the details, and it ought to be interesting to see how they come up with a way of dividing the kitty.
“To my way of thinking, the registry should really favor ‘long tail’ authors who have seen their works go out of print, and also those whose works are in limited circulation, because of production costs or otherwise. The Michael Ruppli discographies (essential tools for me, but only of occasional use) would be ideal for me online.”
Definitely stay tuned.
“I can see spending money to access them when I need them, and it would sure free up some shelf space.”
statement – Authors, Publishers, and Google Reach Landmark Settlement, October 28, 2008
Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. It’s really easy!Subscribe to p2pnet.net | | rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss | | Mobile – http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php
Net access blocked by government restrictions? Use Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. Go here for details.
October 28th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Is it just me or are they saying “in the U.S.” a lot there. Bad enough to see WOWIO only servicing Americans but now Google Book Search too?
October 29th, 2008 at 1:22 am
I think the decision and the proposed Registry provide a simple template for any copyright regime to follow. Reciprocity would be a natural next step. As this settlement is intended to compensate US authors and US publishers, books from elsewhere can’t be included until there are some collateral agreements.