Is Google Waging a Public Relations Campaign on Libraries?; ALA District Dispatch, 5/14/09

Via ALA District Dispatch; Is Google Waging a Public Relations Campaign on Libraries?:

"Recently, Google representatives have initiated contact with members of the library community to explain, from their perspective, the proposed Google Book Search settlement agreement that was recently reached among Google, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) and the Authors Guild. Specifically, Google is reaching out to library leaders, likely in response to an increase in interest in the community and the press about the concerns libraries have raised in response to the proposed private settlement agreement."

http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=2874

New York Law School to Launch Public Interest Book Search Initiative Project; New York Law School Press Release, 5/6/09

Via New York Law School Press Release; New York Law School to Launch Public Interest Book Search Initiative Project to Be Led by Recognized Expert on Google Book Lawsuit:

"New York Law School today announced the launch of the Public Interest Book Search Initiative, a new program developed to foster public discussion about the law and policy of digitizing books, making them searchable, and distributing them online.

The new initiative reinforces New York Law School's leading role in the academic study of the future of publishing and will be led by Professor James Grimmelmann, a recognized expert on copyright law and the Authors Guild v. Google lawsuit. Professor Grimmelmann is often quoted in the media about the lawsuit, and his article "How to Fix the Google Book Search Settlement" is the most frequently cited and discussed analysis of the proposed settlement...

The key components of the Public Interest Book Search Initiative are: a Web site for discussion of the proposed settlement, an open-source amicus brief, and a conference on the settlement."

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/05/prweb2392184.htm

Library groups gripe about Google Book Search; CNet News, 5/4/09

Via CNet News: Library groups gripe about Google Book Search:

"Three groups representing hundreds of libraries lodged a long series of concerns about a proposed settlement of lawsuits over Google Book Search on Monday--but refrained from objecting overall.

Specifically, the American Library Association, the Association of College and Research Libraries, and the Association of Research Libraries expressed some affinity for Google's mission of sharing books with the public, but raised concerns in a legal filing that the settlement would concentrate power in Google's hands and poses pricing and privacy concerns."

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10233158-93.html

Google's Book Search Deal: 5 Pros and 5 Cons; PC World, 4/29/09

Via PC World; Google's Book Search Deal: 5 Pros and 5 Cons:

"Understanding Google's Settlement

The Book Search settlement, announced in October, followed a three-year battle over Google's right to display copyrighted books on its Web site. The Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers claimed Google was violating copyrights by doing so. Google eventually agreed to pay $125 million to ensure authors and publishers could register to receive payments anytime their books were viewed within the service.

The deal is proving to be quite divisive, and now, with the Justice Department's reported antitrust investigation, things could get even more dicey. Here's a look at five key arguments from both sides of the debate."

http://www.pcworld.com/article/164096/googles_book_search_deal_5_pros_and_5_cons.html

Justice Dept. Opens Antitrust Inquiry Into Google Books Deal; The New York Times, 4/28/09

Via The New York Times: Justice Dept. Opens Antitrust Inquiry Into Google Books Deal:

"The Justice Department has begun an inquiry into the antitrust implications of Google’s settlement with authors and publishers over its Google Book Search service, two people briefed on the matter said Tuesday.

Lawyers for the Justice Department have been in conversations in recent weeks with various groups opposed to the settlement, including the Internet Archive and Consumer Watchdog. More recently, Justice Department lawyers notified the parties to the settlement, including Google, and representatives for the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild, that they were looking into various antitrust issues related to the far-reaching agreement.

The inquiry does not necessarily mean that the department will oppose the settlement, which is subject to a court review. But it suggests that some of the concerns raised by critics, who say the settlement would unfairly give Google an exclusive license to profit from millions of books, have resonated with the Justice Department."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/29/technology/internet/29google.html

Google seeks more time in Book Search case; CNet News, 4/27/09

Via CNet News; Google seeks more time in Book Search case:

"Google said Monday it's seeking 60 more days to find authors and persuade them of what it believes are the merits of a settlement involving its online Book Search service...

Google is facing resistance to the settlement.

Seven authors last week requested a four-month extension (PDF) of the May 5 deadline due to the complexity of the proposed settlement, among other reasons.

"First, two months' time is insufficient to understand the implications of a settlement of this scope," the appeal letter reads. "Second, substantial defects in notice of the settlement undermine authors' ability to assess their rights; and third, more time is required simply to understand the complex terms of the agreement.""

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10228345-93.html

Objection to Google Scanning Settlement Filed; American Libraries, 4/15/09

Via American Libraries: Objection to Google Scanning Settlement Filed:

"The consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog has sent a letter to the Justice Department asking to delay implementation of the October 2008 settlement of publisher lawsuits over Google’s scanning of copyrighted books. Concerns from more groups, including the American Library Association, are anticipated before the May 5 deadline for filing objections.

Consumer Watchdog’s April 1 letter (PDF file) argued that the settlement’s “most favored nation” clause guarantees Google the same terms from the proposed Book Rights Registry that any future competitor might be offered, which may prevent competition."

http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2009/april2009/googlescanobjections.cfm

Librarian Opposes Google's Library Fees, NPR's All Things Considered, 2/21/09

Podcast via NPR's All Things Considered; Librarian Opposes Google's Library Fees [4 min. 29 sec.]:

"Google wants to give you access to its huge database of scanned, out-of-print books, but the company is going to charge for it. Robert Darnton, head librarian at Harvard University, says the deal violates a basic American principle — that knowledge should be free and accessible to all."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100969810

Law School To Intervene In Google Book Settlement, Online Media Daily, 4/3/09

Via Online Media Daily: Law School To Intervene In Google Book Settlement:

"A federal judge will allow New York Law School to argue that a proposed settlement of a class-action lawsuit about Google Book Search should be delayed pending further review.

The school's Institute for Information Law & Policy intends to argue that federal antitrust authorities should weigh in on the case before the court decides whether to approve the settlement. U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin ruled Wednesday that the policy center can file a friend-of-the-court brief...

James Grimmelmann, the law school associate professor behind the initiative, said his main concern about the settlement stems from "orphan works" -- material under copyright, but whose owners can't be found.

Google foe Microsoft has agreed to contribute $50,000 to New York Law School to help fund a host of projects related to the book search settlement, including the friend-of-the-court brief, a symposium, and three white papers.

Grimmelmann said Microsoft will have no influence over the project, and his written proposal seeking funding from the software giant also spelled out that the work will be independent. "

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=103393

At Columbia Conference, Harvard’s Darnton Asks: Is Google the Elsevier of the Future?, Library Journal, 3/18/09

Via Library Journal: At Columbia Conference, Harvard’s Darnton Asks: Is Google the Elsevier of the Future?:

"Is the public’s interest in books at risk with the pending Google Book Search Settlement? That was one of many issues addressed at an all-day conference on the settlement, held on March 13 at Columbia University.

In the final panel of the day, which addressed public interest issues, Google’s Alexander Macgillivray, associate general counsel for products and intellectual property, responded a bit pugnaciously...He suggested that “a special type of researcher,” such as automated translation experts, would also benefit enormously from the database, that “the long term effects of those researchers having access to this corpus” could even lead “to more peace in the world,” and that the database would add significantly to access to books by disabled people, citing an endorsement from the National Federation of the Blind...

“The downside has to do with the danger of monopoly,” he [Harvard University librarian Robert Darnton] said, adding that, while not all monopolies are bad, the danger comes in the abuse of power, notably via monopoly pricing. “So we have a situation where Google can really ratchet up prices, and that’s what really worries me,” he said. “There’s no real authority to enforce fair pricing… I’m worried that Google will be the Elsevier of the future, but magnified by a hundred times.” Without a mechanism to police pricing, he warned, “it’s going to ruin libraries.”...He called the provision of one terminal in public libraries “one of the weakest provisions,” and predicted chaos in a large urban public library. Google, meanwhile, has said it would consider more than one terminal in larger libraries.

Another solution?
Is Congressional intervention on the public’s behalf a possibility? Does the settlement, for example, make it harder, or perhaps easier to go to Congress for authorization to create a national digital library? “I hate to say this, I don’t think it’s possible,” Darnton said. “We’ve got this settlement, and if it’s not modified now, it’s going to shape the world of digital information for the near future, maybe the far future.”"

http://www.libraryjournal.com/CA6645344.html

Register of Copyrights Not Asked by Congress To Weigh in on Google Book Search?, Library Journal, 3/20/09

Via Library Journal: Register of Copyrights Not Asked by Congress To Weigh in on Google Book Search?:

"Out of last Friday's all-day Columbia University conference on Google Book Search came this interesting little tidbit: Register of Copyrights Mary Beth Peters had recommended against the Library of Congress participating in Google’s initial Library Partners program, because she wasn’t sure that Google’s indexing of copyrighted books was a fair use.

That in and of itself is not a shocker—a lot of experts are still torn over whether the plan was indeed a fair use. But as Cornell University’s Peter Hirtle noted, the real surprise is that Congress, well, just didn’t seem to care about the program.

“Most disturbing of all was Peters’s admission that not one member of Congress has asked the Copyright Office to comment on the settlement," Hirtle blogged “even though it may fundamentally change how Americans can access and use copyrighted information.”

Certainly, that insight has to make one wonder how much Congress cares about the promotion of progress at the bedrock of copyright law. Last year, Congress failed to pass orphan works legislation but passed a draconian bill stiffening infringement penalties. And while sitting out the potentially momentous discussion over copyright as raised by Google Book Search, Congress is agian considering the Fair Copyright in Research Works Act—controversial legislation that would bar public access to research funded by taxpayers, and would undo the NIH’s access policy, enacted last year.

Notably, Peters was also not asked to testify at a hearing on the Fair Copyright in Research Works Act during a congressional hearing last year—but, curiously, a former register of copyright, Ralph Oman was asked, and did testify. Oman told lawmakers that the public access policies, like the NIH’s, would harm publishers and gut copyright."

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6645344.html

Sony Reaches Deal to Share in Google’s E-Book Library , The New York Times, 3/18/09

Via The New York Times: Sony Reaches Deal to Share in Google’s E-Book Library:

"Aiming to outdo Amazon.com and recapture the crown for the most digital titles in an e-book library, Sony is announcing Thursday a deal with Google to make a half million copyright-free books available for its Reader device, a rival to the Amazon Kindle.

Since 2004, Google has scanned about seven million books from major university and research library collections. For now, however, Google can make full digital copies available only of books whose copyrights have expired...

Jeffrey P. Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive, has said that works in the public domain, like those Google is making available to Sony, are easy to get since there are no copyrights attached.

Google has been working to encode books in a free, open electronic publishing format, ePub, which makes them easier to read on devices like the Reader. The company is aiming to gradually increase the number of copyright-free books in the Google Book Search catalog available to Sony and any other e-book distributor that shares its goals of making books more accessible."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/technology/19sony.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=copyright&st=cse

Some Fear Google’s Power in Digital Books, The New York Times, 2/1/09

Via The New York Times: Some Fear Google’s Power in Digital Books:

"To Thomas Augst, an English professor at New York University who has studied the history of libraries, including those in the past that were run as businesses, what is significant is that the digitization of books is ending the distinction between circulating libraries, meant for public readers, and research libraries, meant for scholars. It’s not as if anyone from the public can walk into the Harvard library.

“A positive way to look at what Google is doing,” he said, “is that it is advancing the circulating of books and leveling these distinctions.”

In a final twist, however, the digital-rights class-action agreement has the potential to make physical libraries newly relevant. Each public library will have one computer with complete access to Google Book Search, a service that normally would come as part of a paid subscription.

One of Mr. Darnton’s concerns is that a single computer may not be enough to meet public demand. But Mr. Augst already can see a great benefit.

Google is “creating a new reason to go to public libraries, which I think is fantastic,” he said."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/02/technology/internet/02link.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=google%20book%20search&st=cse

At Panel on Google Book Settlement, Support, Criticism, Contentiousness, Library Journal, 1/29/09

Via Library Journal: At Panel on Google Book Settlement, Support, Criticism, Contentiousness:

• "Pricing issues unresolved
• Is public library access “product placement”?
• Will city managers think Google is a library?
  
  In a lively, sometimes contentious discussion Saturday at the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in Denver, Dan Clancy, engineering director for the Google Book Search Project, diligently explicated the proposed settlement with publishers and authors over books scanned from libraries, but was unable to answer some pressing questions from librarians, noting that the settlement itself remains unresolved."

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6633319.html

Google Book Settlement Link Dump Awesomeness, 11/25/08

[Links to lots of information about the Google Book Search Settlement] Via "Google Book Settlement Link Dump Awesomeness":

http://pureinformation.org/archives/2008/11/25/google-book-settlement-link-dump-awesomeness/

From Siva Vaidhyanathan "My initial take on the Google-publishers settlement", Siva Vaidhyanathan's Blog, The Googlization of Everything, 10/28/08

From Siva Vaidhyanathan, Via Siva Vaidhyanathan's Blog, The Googlization of Everything: "My initial take on the Google-publishers settlement":

"My major criticisms of Google Book Seach have always concerned the actions of the university libraries that have participated in this program rather than Google itself. Companies should always do what is best for them. But the university libraries have a different, much higher mission. And they have clear ethical obligations. So I now turn to them.

From the beginning, this has seemed to be a major example of corporate welfare. Libraries at public universities all over this country (including the one that employs me) have spent many billions of dollars collecting these books. Now they are just giving away access to one company that is cornering the market on on-line access. They did this without concern for user confidentiality, preservation, image quality, search prowess, metadata standards, or long-term sustainability...

At the core of this settlement is this fact that university libraries much confront: For the first time, elements of library collections will be offered for sale in widespread manner via a private contractor. Perhaps this is only a shift of degree. Perhaps it is a major mission shift. It's worth a good argument, no?

Ultimately, I have to ask: Is this really the best possible system for the universal spread of knowledge? I think we can do better. Watch this space to see how."

http://www.googlizationofeverything.com/2008/10/my_initial_take_on_the_googlep.php

Google Hopes to Open a Trove of Little-Seen Books, New York Times, 1/5/09

Via New York Times: Google Hopes to Open a Trove of Little-Seen Books:

"Some scholars worry that Google users are more likely to search for narrow information than to read at length. “I have to say that I think pedagogically and in terms of the advancement of scholarship, I have a concern that people will be encouraged to use books in this very fragmentary way,” said Alice Prochaska, university librarian at Yale.

Others said they thought readers would continue to appreciate long texts and that Google’s book search would simply help readers find them.

“There is no short way to appreciate Jane Austen, and I hope I’m right about that,” said Paul Courant, university librarian at the University of Michigan. “But a lot of reading is going to happen on screens. One of the important things about this settlement is that it brings the literature of the 20th century back into a form that the students of the 21st century will be able to find it.”

Google’s book search has already entered the popular culture, in the film version of “Twilight,” based on the novel by Stephenie Meyer about a teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire. Bella, one of the main characters, uses Google to find information about a local American Indian tribe. When the search leads her to a book, what does she do?

She goes to a bookstore and buys it."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/technology/internet/05google.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=google&st=cse

Google adds magazines to online book archive, Sydney Morning Herald, 12/10/08

Via Sydney Morning Herald: Google adds magazines to online book archive:

"Google announced on Tuesday that it had begun adding magazines to its online archive of books in a partnership with publishers...

A search on books.google.com will now not only bring up links to relevant books but also to magazine articles related to the query. Users can also use advanced search on Google Book Search to search through magazines only...

In late October, Google settled a copyright dispute with the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild over the Internet giant's plans to scan millions of books."

http://news.smh.com.au/technology/google-adds-magazines-to-online-book-archive-20081210-6v91.html

Google book search deal is good news for copyright law, London Times, 11/19/08

Via London Times: Google book search deal is good news for copyright law, The search giant's settlement with publishers could be a game-changing legal event, says the MP for Intellectual Property:

"Many US libraries are intending to make out of print material available to Google on this basis. The impact on access to such works in the US is likely to be significant, enabling consumers to access works they previously would have struggled to find.

The effect of this agreement will in the most part be limited to the US. And yet the announcement is of interest to users of the copyright system worldwide. Why? Because this is an agreement that, if it works as it should, will strike a middle ground between the need for public access to works and the right of authors and publishers to control and be paid for the use of their creations.

The result, if it works, will be an evolution in the way copyright licensing for printed works is administered and a revolution in the freedom of access to harder-to-find works — all within a system that will remunerate rights holders fairly and give them control over the use of their works. "

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article5187385.ece