I may be wrong but I thought authors and publishers could leave pricing up to Google or choose to price their own books-- something I'll look into again, after seeing the piece below.
Assuming the settlement is approved by the district court, we will then all see it being interpreted and implemented. A few thoughts at this point that concern me relate to the Registry. What will be its administrative fees, distribution schemes and how will it deal with non-Registry members? The Registry will not be subject to statutory control and that may raise a host of other issues. Lastly, Google will give the registry seed money but what happens when that is gone...will they really be able to collect sufficient money from usage fees and subscriptions? Lesley Lesley Ellen Harris lesley @ copyrightlaws.com www.copyrightlawscom.blogspot.com ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <mcn-l at mcn.edu> Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2008 1:04 AM Subject: [MCN-L] IP SIG: Harvard opts out of Google settlement > via Peter Brantley: > > > Harvard has ultimately decided not to participate on the > terms reached by the libraries involved in the settlement > discussions. > > from the Harvard Crimson - > > "Harvard University Library will not take part in Google?s book > scanning project for in-copyright works after finding the > terms of its landmark $125 million settlement regarding > copyrighted materials unsatisfactory, University officials > said yesterday. > > "Harvard had been one of five academic libraries?along with > Stanford, Oxford, Michigan, and the New York Public Library?to > partner with Google when the book scanning initiative was > announced in October 2004. University officials said that > Harvard would continue its policy of only allowing Google to > scan books whose copyrights have expired. ... > > "In a letter released to library staff, University Library > Director Robert C. Darnton ?60 said that uncertainties in the > settlement made it impossible for HUL to participate. > > "?As we understand it, the settlement contains too many > potential limitations on access to and use of the books by > members of the higher education community and by patrons of > public libraries,? Darnton wrote. > > "?The settlement provides no assurance that the prices charged > for access will be reasonable,? Darnton added, ?especially > since the subscription services will have no real competitors > [and] the scope of access to the digitized books is in various > ways both limited and uncertain.? > > "He also said that the quality of the books may be a cause > for concern, as ?in many cases will be missing photographs, > illustrations and other pictorial works, which will reduce > their utility for research and education.? " > > ___________________ > > Also: > http://madisonian.net/2008/10/31/google-book-search-deal-will-the-prices-be-all-right/ > > > _______________________________________________ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer > Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l >
