Publishers Group Settles Copyright Suit Against Google; Authors' Case Is Pending
Google has settled litigation with publishers over its digital copies of copyrighted books.
The settlement with the Association of American Publishers does not resolve Google’s ongoing litigation with the Authors Guild over Google’s ambitious project to digitalize every book, report the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.).
The settlement allows publishers to remove digital books from Google’s library if they choose to do so, the stories say. When publishers allow digital publication, Google will give them a digital copy they can sell on their own websites.
Readers can access 20 percent of books digitalized by Google and can buy the entire book from the Google Play store, the Times explains. Google will share its revenue with the publishers, but did not reveal the percentages.
“Under the settlement, publishers get the benefit of Google digitizing out-of-print books that they might not otherwise have turned into e-books,” the Times says. “Meanwhile, Google can expand the library of e-books it sells to consumers.”
Prior coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Federal Judge Nixes $125M Google Books Settlement That Would Have OK’d Digital Library”
