Google to let booksellers sell Google books
p2pnet news view Politics | Advertising:- Giant online advertising company Google generously says it’ll open its digital book collection so rivals can sell Google books online.
But, says The Register, “it’s worth noting this sort of affiliate program is already discussed in Google’s 134-page settlement. And the offer would only apply if the controversial pact wins approval.”
The announcement, “made during a congressional hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on Google’s book-scanning project, involves digital copies of millions of so-called orphan books, works that are still under copyright but whose rights holders can’t be tracked down,” says the Los Angeles Times, going on:
“Since 2004, the Mountain View, Calif., technology company has scanned more than 10 million books provided by publishers and libraries, and allowed people to search the texts within those books. In 2006, the Authors Guild and the Assn. of American Publishers sued Google, alleging copyright infringement.
“Google settled the lawsuits last year by agreeing to split the revenue it would receive from selling access to out-of-print books under copyright protection, with Google retaining 37% and publishers and authors taking 63%.”
For “orphan books,” books no longer in print but still falling under copyright law, the money, “would be held in escrow for five years, “or until an author or publisher stepped forward to claim the work. The settlement is awaiting court approval before it can go into effect,” says the story.
Critics, “have questioned Google’s commitment to protect the privacy of its readers, while others have voiced concern about a potential Google monopoly of orphaned books,” says the story, quoting the Internet Archive’s Peter Brantley as saying “I fail to see what’s really new here.
“It’s like Macy’s telling Sears, ‘You can sell Macy’s clothing.’ There’s no fundamental change of the conditions under which Macy’s acquires those clothes. Google remains in control.”
Also known as the Wayback Machine, the Internet Archive is a non-profit organisation launched to build a free Internet library.
It now includes texts, audio, moving images, and software as well as archived web pages, and is, “working to provide specialized services relating to training, education, or adaptive reading or information access needs of blind or other persons with disabilities”.
It doesn’t mess with users’ personal and private information.
digital book collection – Google: digitizer of Canada’s heritage?, September 8, 2009
The Register – Google invites Amazon to resell its digital books, September 10, 2009|
Los Angeles Times – Google to allow booksellers to profit from digital library, September 11, 2009
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