J K Rowling, Philip Pullman and other British authors are threatening to boycott Google’s new digital library.
The financial deal offered to authors by Google only applies to certain titles and has become a flashpoint between the online giant and those who say it is violating copyright in its quest to create the world’s biggest online library.
Under the deal, Google Books will carry books that are out of copyright, as well as “snippets” of in-copyright titles and the option to pay to read a full copy. The deal offers authors $60 per title that appears online plus a share of revenue.
In a last-minute statement (pdf) before a deadline to opt out of the Google Book Settlement, which would lead to the creation of a vast digital library, the estate of Richard Wright, author of “Native Son” and “Black Boy,” described the settlement as “grievously flawed.” The estate sent out its statement to media representatives on Wednesday, outlining several objections.
Amazon.com, one of the most outspoken critics of the original settlement, Wednesday filed an objection to the revised one, raising many of the same objections it made to the first. In particular, the books giant argued that the agreement overreaches and violates the U.S. Copyright Act. “The (settlement) continues to give Google exclusive rights likely to lead to a monopoly,” it read.
U.C. Berkeley Professor Pam Samuelson submitted an objection on behalf of a group of academic authors. “We do not believe that the settlement of a class action lawsuit is a proper way to make such a profound set of changes in rights of authors and publishers, in markets for books, and procedures for resolving disputes as the (settlement) would bring about,” the letter read.
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