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About the Google Book Settlement

What Should Authors Do if Their Book or Chapter is Digitized by Google?

If you are an author of a book that is in-copyright and registered with the U.S. Copyright Office prior to January 5, 2009, you may want to explore your options regarding books that are digitized by Google.

Background

Since 2004, Google has been partnering with libraries throughout the world to digitize and then make available “snippets” of books from library collections, including those still protected under copyright law. In a separate, but complementary project, Google made agreements to work with publishers to obtain digital copies of newly published books to add to the Google Books database. Some perceived outcomes for this project include:

For Google (and end users) – a full text searchable database of books;
For the library partners – digital copies of the books they held in their collections;
For the participating publishers – a mechanism to drive users to newly published books.

From the beginning, Google has maintained that their use (the digitizing of books and the creation of the database) falls under fair use guidelines and is considered transformative. In 2005 the Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers, and others sued Google arguing that Google’s efforts to scan works held in libraries violated U.S. Copyright statute.

The Settlement

A proposed settlement for the lawsuit was announced on October 28, 2008. This complex agreement focused primarily on those books that are still in-copyright. The settlement created two categories of in-copyright books: those that are commercially available and those that are not. This settlement excludes:

books in the public domain
books that were not registered with the U.S. Copyright Office
periodicals
books published after January 5, 2009

Under the agreement, in which authors and publishers agree not to sue, Google will continue to digitize in-copyright books and make the full content searchable to users. This settlement will also create a Book Rights Registry (BRR) that will act as a mechanism to allow copyright owners the ability to register with Google and receive royalty payments for the right to display additional content. The terms of this settlement establish default rules for the two categories of in-copyright books:

Out-of-print: Google can make the book available for preview, consumer purchase, and institutional subscription.
In-print: Google cannot make any of the book’s text available. Only bibliographic information will display through the search database.

Copyright owners have the ability to opt-out of the agreement, to remove specific books from the Google database, or to vary any of the default rules with respect to specific books.

Impact on WUSTL Authors

If you are an author of a book that is in-copyright and registered with the U.S. Copyright Office prior to January 5, 2009, you may want to explore your options:

Search Google Books to see if any of your books or books with your inserts are in the database.
Identify the copyrights that you own, either by reviewing the agreements you signed with the publisher or by contacting the publisher.
If you assigned some or all of the rights to the publisher, contact the publisher and ask how they plan to address the Settlement.
If you are a rightsholder with books in Google Books, you can remain in the Settlement. This means that you will be bound by the court’s ruling, including a release of claims against Google.
If you are a rightsholder with books in Google Books, you can opt-out of the Settlement. This means that you retain your right to sue Google individually. You must opt-out in writing by September 4, 2009.
Those who decide to remain the Settlement can also file an objection. Objections must be filed by September 4, 2009.
File a claim for cash payment (if you are eligible) by January 5, 2010.
If you are a rightsholder and the book is out-of-print, you can opt-out of the default mode (making previews and purchases available). By opting-out, only bibliographic information will display for your book; however, users may be more inclined to purchase access to the full text if you let them preview the full text.
If you are rightsholder and the book is in-print, consider opting-in to make previews and purchases available.�The ability to preview your book may drive more users to purchase your book.

Tentative Timeline:

September 4, 2009:	Revised Opt-out deadline (original date was May 5, 2009)
October 7, 2009:	Revised Final Fairness hearing (original date was June 11, 2009)
January 5, 2010:	Cash Payment deadline
April 5, 2011:	Removal Request deadline – Requests to remove the book or insert from Google must be filed by this date. Any requests made after this date will be honored only if Google has not yet scanned the item.
Effective date:	Unknown at this time – the date on which the rights and obligations of the Settlement agreement become effective.
5 years from effective date:	Rightsholders must register claims for books or inserts by the 5th anniversary of the effective date in order to receive an Inclusion fee.
5 years from the End of the Reporting Period during which a book generated income:	A rightsholder may claim a book at any time, including after the deadline for receiving cash payments or inclusion fees. The rightsholder would be eligible to receive any revenues on an on-going basis as well as any revenues that have been generated but have gone “unclaimed.” If the revenues are unclaimed after 5 years at the end of reporting period, then the BRR will disburse the revenues pursuant to the Unclaimed Funds provisions of the settlement.