Comments

1
Summary plz?
2
Wow. After reading this article, I am wondering whatever happened to the Google motto,"Don't be evil"?
3
That is the best thing I've read about the settlement, and I have written many thousands of words about it, myself.

You should read the whole thing if you are an author or a concerned reader.

The Google Books Settlement summary is: Google will have court-anointed rights to scan all books whether under copyright protection or not; display, sell, and collect fees for books for which the copyright is intact and the owners cannot be easily found; and be part of a cartel that will control the prices for all electronic books that Google makes available. The cartel involves Google, authors, and publishers.

This becomes a de facto cartel and monopoly, because for another party (say Apple or Microsoft) to achieve the same terms, they would have to convince affected copyright holders, who already have a deal via the GBS with Google that gives them an enormous amount of control, to also strike a separate deal with similar terms. If the terms aren't similar, then Google will always win out on the revenue and profit side.
4
I'm skeptical, I think it's a step in the right direction, I'm sick of not having a digital library. I think having spaces dedicated to promoting the creative commons license is a huge thing, and keep them separate from the publishers worried about people copying.

I think it's rather ironic that the statement from the author goes as far to assume librarians help protect copyright. That's a laughable statement, considering once you check the book out the librarian can't stop you from selling the work on the black market. Even if you're not allowed to check out, has this person ever heard of a camera? I feel like they're just technophobes, but certainly understand the kinds of rights they want to have. I do think that eventually copyright will be obsolete, and used mainly by people for kicks, because the notion that anyone could protect their idea once they're openly selling it is kind of a farce. I think authors are going to have to give up something here, they can't expect going forward for the government to protect their work 70 years after their death. If they want to move that into a more manageable territory, like 14 years the way it was originally intended, I would be willing to respect their wishes. But right now? I feel like they want to screw me, so why should I bother giving them money?

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