post Thursday October 18, 2012
After seven years fighting to digitize the out-of-print books, Google finally obtained the right to sell them, provided they have received the publisher’s agreement. Google has reached a settlement with major publishers, including Pearson, Penguin, McGraw-Hill, John Wiley & Sons, and CBS Corp’s Simon & Schuster. States in the settlement terms: “[t]he settlement acknowledges the rights and interests of copyright-holders. US publishers can choose to make available or choose to remove their books and journals digitized by Google for its Library Project. Those deciding not to remove their works will have the option to receive a digital copy for their use."
Financial Times reports that the settlement is likely to cover “hundreds of thousands or millions” of the 20million books that Google has scanned so far. The settlement gives room for “innovative means to discover content while still respecting the rights of copyright-holders.” Said Tom Allen, the president of Association of American Publishers, in a statement.
While the dispute with the publishers has been settled, a separate lawsuit filed by the Author Guild is still outstanding. Reported by Wired.com, the Authors Guild is seeking $2 billion in damages from Google for digitally scanning 2.7 million university library books without permission.
Disregarding Google’s ambition of being “Earth’s biggest bookstore”, Amazon is still the biggest player in the ebook world.
Source: Good Reader, Financial Times, Wired
Image Source: Free Digital Photos
