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$125 Million Settlement In Authors Guild v. Google
Posted by
timothy
on Tue Oct 28, 2008 10:12 AM
from the something-had-to-give dept.
from the something-had-to-give dept.
James Gleick writes "Authors, publishers, and Google are announcing a huge settlement deal today in their lawsuits over the scanning of millions of copyrighted books in library collections. Google has agreed to a huge payout for books that were scanned without permission, but now they'll be allowed to scan the books legitimately. Most important, they'll be able to put millions of books online, including those still in copyright — not just for searching and not just in snippets. There is a groundbreaking new licensing system meant to make the books as widely available as possible while protecting the authors' copyrights and enabling them to share in the revenue. Some will differ, but personally I think this is a wonderful outcome, for readers and for authors alike."
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Authors Guild To Members: De-link Amazon.com 458 comments
theodp writes: "Angered by Amazon.com's practice of offering [prominently placed] used editions of relatively new titles, the Authors Guild is urging authors to replace Amazon.com links on their web sites with links to Barnesandnoble.com and BookSense.com.
Amazon spokesperson Patty Smith insisted the policy really "ends up helping authors and publishers" although neither the author nor the publisher receives royalties from Amazon's used book sales, and Smith could not cite an author or genre helped by the availability of used editions.
" CD: I'd imagine they don't want us to go to our local used book stores either? This is the second time they've tried to call Amazon to task for this.
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Google Responds to Authors Guild Lawsuit 383 comments
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Tim O'Reilly on the Google Library Project 287 comments
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Technology: Google Book Search Settlement Receiving Criticism 119 comments
waderoush writes "While James Gleick, Lawrence Lessig, and other pundits have reacted positively to this week's proposed settlement of the publishing industry's lawsuit against Google over the Google Book Search project, a deeper study of the agreement turns up some worrisome provisions that could make online access to books much more costly and difficult than it needs to be. Harvard University's libraries, for example, declined to endorse the settlement over concerns that it provides no mechanism for keeping the cost of access to books reasonable. And while the parties to the settlement have made much of the clause providing public libraries with free full-text access to Google's database of over 7 million out-of-print books, Xconomy has a post pointing out that this access is restricted to exactly one Google terminal per library. So, you can read books for free — as long as you're the first person to get to your public library's computer room in the morning."
[+]
Google's Struggle To Reach Authors — of Every Book Ever Written 153 comments
eldavojohn writes "There's no lack of news surrounding the settlement of Google's controversial move to digitize books — but how do you even start this endeavor? A New York Times story reveals the obstacles they face just to get the word out that they want to settle with publishers and authors everywhere. They turned to a world-wide ad campaign to start the $125 million settlement process and they're spending $7 million to $8 million in paper print ads and telephone hot-lines (handling 80+ languages) to reach as many people as possible. From the article: 'We looked at how many books were published in various areas and we knew from the plaintiffs and Google that 30 percent were published in the US, 30 percent in industrialized countries. The rest of the world is the rest.' That's quite the herculean task! Hopefully Google's efforts in digitizing books will breathe new life and revenue into authors and publishers the world over."
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I can has source material? (Score:4, Funny)
Good now it will be easier to find source material for all the obscure topics on my Wikipedia to-do list.
Re:I can has source material? (Score:5, Interesting)
If they wanted their writings available for free, then why would they bother to publish in the first place?
Content creators deserve some rights to their works.
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Re:I can has source material? (Score:5, Informative)
If they wanted their writings available for free, then why would they bother to publish in the first place?
Cory Doctorow answered you question in the forward to Little Brother [craphound.com] far better than I can.
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Re:I can has source material? (Score:5, Insightful)
When you steal a book, and keep it permanently without compensation, that makes you no better than the Plantation Masters. IMHO.
Wow. Hyperbole anyone? Last I checked we are not:
In case you weren't aware, you can dislike a particular viewpoint without making strained comparisons to slave holders (or any of the other favorites, e.g. Nazis).
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Re:I can has source material? (Score:4, Insightful)
Nope. You're just making them work without pay for their creations.
I didn't 'make' them do anything.
How would you like to spend time creating a beautiful piece of programming & your employer just says "thanks" and takes it w/o paying you?
Your right that would suck. Fortunately I neatly avoid this by requiring that I be paid in regular chunks throughout development, and if the payments were to cease I would cease handing over code. It works quite nicely.
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Re:I can has source material? (Score:4, Insightful)
They worked without pay from me, too, but they still created.
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copying a book = plantation master? (Score:5, Funny)
When you steal a book, and keep it permanently without compensation, that makes you no better than the Plantation Masters.
Really? Stealing a $5 item is akin to kidnapping entire families, beating them into submission and keeping them as slaves? Are you smoking crack or just a lawyer for the RIAA or the MPAA?
How about if I just make an unauthorized copy of an item, in violation of a term to which I never agreed? Am I now just a person who kidnaps people, beats them for a few weeks and then lets them go?
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Re:I can has source material? (Score:4, Interesting)
OK.. slow down a bit:
We are not telling the authors to give all of their books for free (nor work in dark dank dungeons with burly leather clad masters whipping them into submission)
The issue is part of the complicated world we are moving into. In the past a work had severe cost to bring to the people and so the business model made as much money as possible from distribution over a short period of time and then those resources were moved to a newer piece of material.
Those books in their remaining form dropped in price significantly leading to an excellent used book market for extremely cheap (or free at your library) spreading the knowledge to the masses.
Now those costs are high in the short term but the work can now be distributed extremely cheaply AND indefinitely.. The issue we've run into with just about everything is publishers trying to now keep their old entry level pricing going forever with a perpetual hold on the material. Think all the fun battles with MPAA/RIAA this is the same thing ONLY with the help of a massive "donation" by Google (services and settlement $$$) plus a very solid outlook on the part of the literary big business (at least the educational institutions involved) we get a MUCH better solution that benefits all involved.
I know someday (maybe/probably even now in the dark) Google's power will corrupt as power always does but for the time being it is enjoyable to watch what they may accomplish trying to follow a "Do no evil" philosophy.
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Re:I can has source material? (Score:4, Interesting)
Which books? Because if they did I guarantee you it was because they had the right to. Either the book was in the public domain or the rights to present it that way were already obtained.
Name the books, otherwise, I call bullshit. I've used the service and I know it only provides snippets unless it has negotiated the rights to more.
From Google: [google.com]
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at last. its f*ckin 21st century ffs. (Score:5, Insightful)
Seems to me like we need cash cows... (Score:5, Interesting)
You know, i would be tempted to agree with you if only for the practical political point that ending copyrights would gut the finances of liberalism and I happen to be a Republican.
But...
Um, just having a quick look at the finances of the USA, and I have to ask, what exactly is someone allowed to make any money in this new world. Oil companies are not allowed to earn half the profits of apple, coal companies are not allowed to operate, car companies can't make money... seems to me we have plenty of companies not making money doing something and perhaps that, we might be better off if someone did make money.
Perhaps the best way to accomodate IP longevity is to have a copyright property tax. So... if you hold the copyright to a work, you either pay the tax or put the work into the PD. That way, if something is genuinely valuable, like Lord of the Rings, then, it can still produce income and benefit the economy and be accessible through normal markets, but, the rest of the stuff won't be locked up, away from people's view, like old movies or books out of print.
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Re:at last. its f*ckin 21st century ffs. (Score:5, Insightful)
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If it were up to me, yes (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm not the grandparent poster, but if it were up to me, copyrights would last less than the average human lifetime.
To paraphrase the early United States Congresses, "nobody will ever need more than 28 years of exclusive rights." On average we live longer now so 28 years is a bit short in today's terms.
If it were up to me, the maximum term of copyright protection would be somewhere between 50 years and the the average expected lifespan of a 4 year old at the time the work was created. Where in between? We should have a national discussion on this not controlled by special interests to determine it.
Why age 4? 1) works created by kids under that age generally more "play" than "creative," and generally have very little market value, and 2) it removes infant mortality from the equation.
I would require that after the first 10-20 years or so, the public gets a non-controlling financial interest in the copyright: You can renew copyrights in 10- to 20-year increments, but with each increment you have to promise to forward an increasingly-higher percentage of any royalties to the national treasury. Royalties previously paid that extend into the renewal period would require a pro-rated payment to the treasury as well. You would of course have the option to not renew and let your work fall into the public domain.
Going forward, works re-published 10-20 years after creation which are legally published but without a (c) mark are presumed to be in the public domain unless the publisher can show it was done in error. Today's automatic copyright-on-creation would still be in play, but they would expire after 10-20 years if not renewed. To protect existing works and contracts based on those works, the "new regime" would only apply to works created after a certain date. I don't like the current regime's long terms but messing with it with a blunt instrument like imposing a new regime on all existing works introduces a whole host of problems. It's far better to solve the orphan works and other problems with a more finely-tuned solution.
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Re:If it were up to me, yes (Score:5, Interesting)
You're dead. What do you care where/how your music is used? Besides, it's a sad fact that if "evil corporations" did not use 200-300-400 year old music, a lot of that stuff would be forgotten by all by a few college professors and music historians.
Those 30 or 60 second ads have the benefit of keeping those ancient works "alive" in the minds of millions, rather than falling into disuse.
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Re:If it were up to me, yes (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:at last. its f*ckin 21st century ffs. (Score:5, Informative)
Like Lord of the Rings?
Yes. Consider that there are some Sherlock Holmes stories that are still under copyright in the USA.
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Re:at last. its f*ckin 21st century ffs. (Score:4, Funny)
The good news: Barack Obama will redistribute copyrights.
The bad news: You were assigned copyright for "The Joy of Gay Sex Volume 3: Extreme Fisting"
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It's easier to say "sorry" than ask permission... (Score:5, Interesting)
This may have been Google's strategy all along.
Step 1: start scanning and distributing copyrighted books without permission.
Step 2: writers and publishers get pissed off and sue.
Step 3: settle and obtain permission to go even further.
It worked. Now Google will have control over electronic access to a massive amount of printed material.
This may be just a silly conspiracy theory. But on the other hand would a company like Google, with massive financial and legal resources, naively embark on a blatant copyright infringement project? Not likely; it's obvious they had a strategy in mind from the beginning.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Except that it wasn't infringment. This was just another mosquito attempting to suck blood from what it saw as a rich target.
show me the money (Score:4, Interesting)
And where is the money for this settlement going? Is it actually going to go to some authors who had their books scanned or is the majority going to the lawyers and the guild itself?
What about youtube then? (Score:4, Insightful)
Doesn't this sorta set the precedent that Google should be paying some kinda royalty to youtube usrs that generate a lot of traffic, if it's no longer considered legitimate to just "take" content and post it on the internet?
Re:What about youtube then? (Score:5, Informative)
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The Mummy (Score:5, Funny)
When reading this the scene from The Mummy where Alex is trying to buy a couple camels from the Bedouin herdsman.
Jonathan: Four! Four! I only want four, not the whole bloody herd!
Rick: Jonathan, just give the man his money.
Google Lawyers: Snippets! Snippets! I only want to expose searchable snippets, not the whole bloody book!
Google Founder: Just give the men their money.
Electronic searching, pring reading (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Google Books rocks (Score:5, Funny)
Truly, an inspiring tale of intellectual growth and of skeptical inquiry into the nature of reality.
As a longtime student, it always brings some warm fuzzies to my heart to hear of how others have done their bit to advance the knowledge of humanity by challenging the status quo.
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