Open Book Alliance vs Google – who should win?
Jinfo Blog

6th September 2009

By Penny Crossland

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The deadline for filing an objection to, or opting out of, Google’s book project deal (http://www.googlebooksettlement.com/) with the US publishing industry (represented by the Association of American Publishers and the Authors' Guild) has passed. The days prior to September 4 saw a flurry of activity and a war of words on both sides of the argument. As LiveWire reported last October (see Udo Hohlfeld’s posting http://www.vivavip.com/go/e13036), Google, as part of its mission ‘to organize and democratize the world’s information’ had agreed to contribute $125 million to set up a Book Rights Registry that will pay contributing authors and publishers a fee for books scanned before the agreement. In addition, the industry is to receive 63% of future revenue generated from online sales, subscription fees and advertising. The scanned publications will be available to preview or purchase online for consumers, will be free at public libraries and available via subscriptions at universities and other institutions. Hailed as an ‘historic settlement’ by the Publishers' Association and ‘the biggest book deal in US publishing history’ by the Authors' Guild, the deal was seen by many as a key moment in the evolution of electronic publishing. So far, so good. However, the Open Book Alliance (http://www.openbookalliance.org), an organisation consisting of a hotchpotch of members such as online industry giants Yahoo and Amazon, writers’ associations like the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America and the National Writers’ Union, as well as library groups such as the New York Library Association and the SLA, opposes the deal. Members of the alliance are concerned that the terms of the deal allow Google to profit from any book whose owner does not opt out or whose author is untraceable, and are trying to change the deal so that the interests of authors are better represented. Many members of the OBA believe Google started out with good intentions when it first announced its aim to digitize the written word, however they argue that the online goliath is increasingly adopting a corporate attitude to the internet and is ‘attempting to reframe the discussion to avoid the fine print of the settlement’. The big concern is that Google would ultimately decide ‘who gets to read online’. The argument is a complex one, with many in the publishing industry still unsure about the implications of the deal. The settlement is still subject to the approval of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and the final fairness hearing is scheduled for October 7. Look at the OBA’s case against the deal at http://digbig.com/5bagew and Google’s arguments for the deal are explained here: http://digbig.com/5bagex

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