Google Books Settlement

On March 22, 2011, Judge Chin of the U.S. District Court handed down his ruling rejecting the proposed settlement of the Google Books litigation. See our summary (with links) here. As a result, the implications of the proposed settlement (as posted below the asterisks on this page) are at least postponed and likely obsolete. For a sample of views and analyses of the case, and its meaning for authors, publishers, libraries, and readers, have a look at the following links:

Articles and Commentary on the Opinion and the Denied Settlement

Jonathan Band – A Guide for the Perplexed Part IV: The Rejection of the Google Books Settlement

Robert Darnton – Six Reasons Google Books Failed

Daniel Gervais – The Google Book Settlement and International Intellectual Property Law

James Grimmelman – Inside Judge Chin’s Opinion

Ariel Katz – Copyright Dogma and the Denied Google Books Settlement

Joe Mullin – What the Collapse of the Google Books Deal Really Means

Ryan Singel – Singel-Minded: To the Whingers Go the Spoils in the Google Books Decision

Articles and Commentary on Next Steps

Andrew Albanese – The Google Settlement Rejection: What Comes Next?

Steve Kolowich – Google Who?

Randy Picker – Moving Forward in Google Book Search

Siva Vaidhyanathan – What’s Next for Google Books

David Zax – Google’s Digital Library Failed – Can Academics Succeed?

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Note: The parties to the case submitted a revised settlement in November 2009. It includes many significant changes, and as a result many of the relevant dates have changed. Authors and other holders of rights in books should be aware of the following deadlines:

January 28, 2010: Deadline for authors and rightsholders to opt out of the settlement.

January 28, 2010: Deadline to opt back in, if you opted out under the previous deadline in September of 2009.

February 18, 2010: The current schedule for the fairness hearing on the settlement. This is the date when the parties appear before the judge, face any questions from the judge, and the judge may hear from other interested parties. Do no expect a decision on the fairness of the settlement on this date, but sometime later.

March 31, 2011: Deadline to claim your books and inserts, if you are to be entitled to the initial payout from the settlement. You may claim later, but you will then only receive payments for uses of your work, and not receive the initial payment.

Watch this site for additional information.

The Google Books Settlement is a proposal to settle litigation relating to Google’s past scanning of copyrighted material and offering of portions of the works through Google Book Search. The settlement hearing is currently scheduled for October 7, 2009, and the court’s decision will have important implications for authors, publishers, researchers and readers. One of the most important issues is how the use orphan works would be affected by the settlement. Some critics say that Google would hold a monopoly on orphan works and, thus, potentially hinder competition to provide these works libraries, universities and researchers. Other concerns include the privacy interests of readers; Google could track individual reading choices and research patterns. The Department of Justice is currently investigating antitrust issues related to the settlement. On the other hand, the settlement proposes to enable access to millions of books, whether through individual purchases or acquisition by libraries of a database license.

This page offers suggestions for authors of books. Many members of the university community are authors, and they should give detailed attention to the implications of the settlement for their works. There are also links to selected resources for further insights about the settlement. The proposed settlement is highly complex and controversial. This page is only a glimpse of the many important issues.

Pointers and Guidance for Book Authors

The proposed settlement, if approved by the court, would authorize Google to digitize and sell access to millions of books that are protected by copyright and in existence as of January 5, 2009. If you are an author of such a book, your book may become part of the Google database. You may need to decide if you want to participate in the settle or opt out. As an author, you have real choices, and those choices have important consequences for the availability of your books and the distribution of money from the settlement.

You first need to determine whether you hold the rights to the copyrighted work. The answer is contingent on the terms of your contract with your publisher, so you must look at your contract in order to determine what rights you have. For more information, visit the website section about publication agreements.

Do I opt out or not?

If you are the copyright owner, you need to decide whether or not you will remain in the settlement. If you do not opt out of the settlement, your books will stay in the database, and you will be bound by the settlement even if you have not claimed your books. Consequently, if you choose not to opt out, you may claim a payment for any books that Google digitized on or before May 5, 2009, request that your materials be removed from the Books database or that they not be digitized, and object to some or all terms of the settlement. If you would like to opt out, you must do so by September 4, 2009; otherwise you will be included in the settlement, whether or not you claim your books.

If I do not opt out, should I claim my books, and how do I claim them?

If your books have been digitized by Google on or before May 5, 2009, you are eligible to receive a cash payment from the settlement and to participate in any future revenue from the digitization and display of your books. However, in order to receive the payout, you must claim your books by January 5, 2010. If you do not opt out and do not claim your books by this date, someone else will get the settlement payment and the royalties from your digitized books. Consequently, by filing a claim by January 5, 2010, Google will be able to match you to your books, and you may be entitled not only to royalties from the digitization and display of your books, but also to an initial $60 payout. To claim your books, see http://www.googlebooksettlement.com/.

If I do not opt out, can I change my mind later?

If you do not opt out, you may still remove your books from Google Books later. Alternatively, if you remove your books now, you can still request that your books to be digitized and displayed in the service in the future. However, the advantage of claiming your books by the January 5, 2010 deadline is that, should you want to be included in the settlement, you will be in it from the beginning and be able to receive the $60 payout if your books are eligible.