Perspectives On Google's Book Search Deal
Google's settlement with a group of authors and publishers regarding the Internet giant's book digitization project was hailed Tuesday as a landmark announcement by the company but Public Knowledge's Sherwin Siy believes that the deal, which still must be approved by a court, might not alter the legal landscape but could impact future digital innovators' efforts. Under the agreement, Google will pay at least $45 million to copyright holders whose works were scanned and displayed without permission.
"Rightsholders and other potential plaintiffs might view this settlement as the model for all future relationships with digitization efforts," he wrote in a blog post. "If Google pays for digitizing, why shouldn’t everyone else? Such a landscape might make a plaintiff more likely to sue, although the results in court, ideally, shouldn’t differ, with or without this settlement in place. Read Siy's lengthy analysis of the arrangement and its potential implications here.
Arts + Labs, a recently launched coalition backed by AT&T, Viacom, NBC Universal and others, also offered comment. The group's co-chairs Mike McCurry and Mark McKinnon issued a statement saying the settlement "shows that creators’ rights and consumer benefit can go hand-in-hand in the Internet age." The arrangement demonstrates that "collaboration between the technology community and the creative community can give consumers access to a wealth of resources while also preserving copyright owners right to control how their work is distributed."
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