Google Books: I like them Sam I am
Google Inc. pointed out today that the estate of Dr. Seuss intends to file a letter in support of the pending legal settlement that would allow the search titan to forge ahead with plans to make millions of books searchable online.
"The settlement may offer a new opportunity for authors of out-of-print books to find new audiences and new sources of income for their works," the letter drafted by law firm DLA Piper LLP reads. "We believe this is likely to be an important benefit for the authors' community, for readers and for researchers."
Since the Mountain View company has been spreading word of this -- the New York Times also mentioned it in a blog post today -- it clearly views the news as a bit of a public relations coup.
Perhaps the underlying message is that, a la "Green Eggs and Ham," authors and publishers will like it if they just give it a chance.
As the Sept. 4 deadline for filing opinions or opting out of the agreement fast approaches, a growing number of opponents seem to believe otherwise. They do not like the deal in a box, with a fox, with a mouse, in a house, here or there, or anywhere.
The Internet Archive and Silicon Valley antitrust attorney Gary Reback formed a group opposed to the deal called the Open Book Alliance, which Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. all recently agreed to join. They believe the agreement creates a de facto monopoly and unchecked pricing power over orphaned works, those for which a rights holder can't be established.
The National Writers Union and major entertainment agency William Morris Endeavor have come out against the deal citing restrictive terms, unfair compensation and troubling legal precedents.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, UC Berkeley's Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic and several librarian organizations have voiced privacy worries, arguing Google could hand over personal reading habits to the government and other parties. The Justice Department is probing the deal for possible antitrust violations.
On the other hand, civil rights and disability organizations including the Leadership Conference for Civil Rights and National Federation for the Blind have trumpeted the proposal, arguing the deal will democratize access to information for groups that have traditionally had limited routes to it.
And the original plaintiffs in the case like the Authors Guild and members of the Association of American Publishers, who sued Google for digitizing books without permission, are staunch defenders of the settlement they drafted.
The agreement would allow Google to move forward with its ambitious project while establishing a system to sort out and compensate the appropriate rights holders.
The company will contribute $125 million to set up a Books Rights Registry that will pay participating authors and publishers a settlement fee for works scanned before the agreement as well as 63 percent of future revenue generated from digital sales, subscription fees, advertising and other sources. The company will make scanned works available free at public libraries, through subscriptions at universities and other institutions, and to preview or buy online.
The Authors Guild insists that rights holders retain the ability to negotiate for higher royalties, block displays of their work entirely and change their mind about which books are included at any time.
"Really, the only practical reason to opt out is if you'd like to retain the right to sue Google yourself," said Paul Aiken, executive director of the organization.
The lawyers representing Dr. Seuss Enterprises L.P. came to similarly positive conclusions: "We are pleased that the settlement ... protects our client's interests yet also offers us the opportunity to try new marketing tools such as snippet and preview use, which could spur further sales of Dr. Suess books."
| September 02 2009 at 04:49 PM
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