Google Book Search Settlement: Introduction, Public Announcements

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Announced today was a settlement between Google and the plaintiffs -- the Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers and individual authors and publishers -- in the class action lawsuit about materials scanned for the Google Book Search application through the Google Book Search Library Project. This posting on DLTJ includes a brief summary of the agreement and links to the primary source public announcements and documents. Subsequent postings to DLTJ will include analysis and commentary on the agreement.

Basic Terms of the Agreement

The agreement settles the claims filed in two lawsuits against Google for "for reproducing a digital copy of plaintiffs' works without the copyright holders' permission and in violation of the authors' rights under the copyright laws" and that the Google Book Search Library Project "infringes on plaintiffs' copyrights by copying copyright-protected works and allowing the public to search and access digital copies of plaintiffs' works."

The "Memorandum of Law" filed in support of a motion by the plaintiffs in the case summarizes the complaint and settlement agreement this way:

• At least $45 million to compensate Settlement Class members whose works have already been scanned without permission.
• Another $34.5 million to establish and maintain a Registry of rights to books (the “Book Rights Registry” or “Registry”), which will locate Settlement Class members, maintain a database of their contact information, collect and pay revenues on behalf of the Settlement Class for the use of copyrighted works through this Settlement, and otherwise protect and represent the interests of the Settlement Class.
• Prospectively, 63% of the revenues earned from Google’s future commercial uses of the Settlement Class members’ works.
• In addition to these and other significant benefits, the proposed Settlement creates a rights clearance mechanism that lets members of the Settlement Class, at all times, retain control over their copyrighted works by giving them the ability to determine the extent to which those works are included or excluded from the Google Library Project.

• Creates an innovative marketing program for authors and publishers of in-print books that catapults the publishing industry into the digital age, a result that greatly benefits individual authors and publishing houses, which simply could not launch such a program on their own;
• Addresses what has been a persistent problem, particularly for individual authors – how to breathe new life into older, out-of-print books that are generally inaccessible to the public and have stopped generating revenue;
• Is designed to maximize Settlement Class member rights by allowing any of them, at any time, to commercially exploit their works in other ways outside of the Google Library Project; and
• Benefits the Settlement Class, as well as the general public, through the ability to access books on Google’s website and, as a result of provisions addressing the extent to which libraries may also use digitized copies of these works, enjoy a new and unprecedented ability to use books and conduct research.

There is much more to the agreement than this short description covers. The proposed Notice of Class Action Settlement is 39 pages and the full proposed Settlement Agreement is 141 pages plus another 162 pages of appendices. Future postings on the Disruptive Library Technology Jester blog will go into more detail and analysis.

Links to Primary Source Documents

Google

• Google Press Release
• Post from Official Google Blog (statement by David Drummond, Google's Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, and Chief Legal Officer)
• Settlement Description (including how Book Search will change)
• Thoughts and Opinions from the principles involved

Settlement Administrator

• Settlement Homepage
• Proposed Notice of Class Action Settlement (summary of the proposed settlement)
• Proposed Settlement Agreement
• Joint Public FAQ (from the Association of American Publishers)

Authors Guild

• Settlement Announcement
• Settlement Resources Page
• Final University Joint Press Release with University of Michigan, University of California and Stanford

Association of American Publishers

• Settlement Announcement
• Statement from AAP Chairman Richard Sarnoff