 | 28 Jan 09 |
It’s no secret that in nearly every format—print, audio, electronic distribution, and film—authors are usually shoved to the back of the line when it comes time to distribute the revenue generated from their work.
But times just might be a-changin’—
Recently, Elaine English, an attorney and literary agent based in Washington D.C. circulated news that offers writers a glimmer of hope. Here’s an excerpt of what she had to say—
Google’s announcement, back in 2004, that it intended to digitize all the books in the world had the industry virtually apoplectic. Google had started had started with digitized books that were clearly in the public domain. It then began negotiations with publishers to license rights to new titles as they were issued. But the most controversial component was the Google Library Project, where Google launched its efforts to scan the entire collection of certain university libraries whether the titles were covered by valid copyrights or not. Google’s position was that fair use protected both its scanning of the book as well as the maintenance of an electronic copy so long as it was used primarily for searching and indexing purposes.
It didn’t take long for the courts to get involved. In September 2005, the Authors Guild and five individual authors filed a class action suit, claiming that Google’s actions were a blatant violation of copyright law. The next month, the Association of American Publishers and five individual publishers, McGraw Hill Co., Pearson Education, The Penguin Group, Simon & Schuster, and John Wiley and Sons, also sued Google. While each side publicly remained convinced of the merits of its legal positions, behind-the-scenes discussions began to take shape, ultimately forming the current settlement that now awaits final approval of the federal court overseeing the lawsuits.
The Authors Guild, in announcing the settlement in late October, state that its goals throughout the discussions had been to “find authors more readers” and make sure they got paid. AAP President and CEO Pat Schroeder called the settlement “an historic, landmark agreement” that provides “a great 21st Century solution.”
According to both the AAP and the Guild, the settlement increases the ability to distribute content in digital form, while at the same time it allows both the authors and publishers to receive compensation for and control over how their intellectual property is accessed online. Google gets to continue to digitize every known book. Public libraries get to participate in this revolutionary new means of data access. And readers presumably get access to a wider array of information. A win-win for all!
Under the terms of the settlement, Google will establish a Books Rights Registry which will collect and distribute the revenues earned from the Google’s Digital Library Project. Some compare he Registry to ASCAP and BMI, which have handled music licensing fees for years. The Registry will maintain a database on all rights holders and will be able to identify the copyright status of all scanned works. The Registry, established as a separate not-for-profit organization, will have an equal number of authors’ and publishers’ representatives on its board. Once things are up and running, administrative fees to operate the Registry will come from revenues collected, but at the outset Google will contribute $34.5 million to underwrite its initial costs.
Revenues will be derived from institutional licensing fees (fees paid by colleges and universities to have access to the Google library database of works, generally based upon the number of enrolled students and faculty), the purchase of online access to each work, fees for printing pages from the works at public access terminals, and even advertising that accompanies a user’s viewing of the work. More than 60% of these revenues will go to the Registry for distribution to authors and publishers. Initially, Google will set the fees it charges users. However, the price for purchasing access to copies can be changed by either the author or the publisher of the work.
Because Google had already digitized millions of books under this program before a settlement was reached, Google has also agreed to pay $45 million in damages to those authors and publishers whose copy-righted books were scanned before they had the opportunity to opt out. If an author owned all rights to the work and it was scanned prior to May 5, 2009 by Google, the author stands to get approximately $60 per book (or more depending upon how many claims are actually filed). This money is intended to reimburse the author for any copyright infringement that may have occurred prior to the settlement. However, an author who accepts a share under the damages portion of the settlement also gives up his riught to later remove the work from the Google Library Project.
Google intends to post a preliminary list of books that it has scanned, and notices will be mailed to rights holders on or after January 5, 2009. Authors affected by the settlement will have until May 5, 2009 to opt out of the class of covered authors (i.e. preserving individual rights to sue Google). The settlement also proposes a deadline of April 5, 2011 for requests to have individual works deleted from the database. A hearing is currently scheduled for June 11, 2009 when the court is expected to rule on the fairness of the settlement.
To see details of how the settlement will work, go to www.googlebooksettlement.com.
I’ll be keeping a close eye on this one!
Deborah LeBlanc is an award-winning author and business owner from Lafayette, Louisiana. She's also a licensed death scene investigator and an active member of two national paranormal investigation teams.
She is the president of the Horror Writers Association, president of the Writers' Guild of Acadiana, president of Mystery Writers of America's Southwest Chapter, and an active member of Sisters in Crime, Novelists Inc, and International Thriller Writers Inc. In 2004, she created the LeBlanc Literacy Challenge, an annual national campaign designed to encourage more people to read, and founded Literacy Inc. a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting illiteracy in America’s teens. She also takes her passion for literacy and a powerful ability to motivate to high schools around the country.
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Thank you so much for the clarification on all this, Deb. I had heard about it but had no idea what was really going on.
by Debra Webb January 28th, 2009 at 4:59 amI wish it would become even clearer, Deb, like actual money showing up in authors’ hands.
by deborah January 28th, 2009 at 8:15 amI’m with Debra–I’d heard about it, but had not seen the specifics. Thanks for this.
I’m not sure why I’m cynical that a company who would begin to scan in millions of books without permissions would be the entity to establish a Books Rights Registry and be the entity trustworthy enough to pay each and every author what they’re owed. hmmm. Not to mention the staggering volume of accounts payable that have already accrued–the simple volume of the paperwork alone will all but insure lengthy delays. (While that money earns interest–interest which will not be paid out to the author, but which will be kept by the Registry.)
Theoretically, sure, sounds fine. Realistically? I’ll believe it when I see payments made.
by Toni McGee Causey January 28th, 2009 at 6:53 amI wanted to add that I come at this issue as a business-person–having run a construction business for 26 years. The issue of whether this publicity would be beneficial to an author, or whether it would grow an author’s audience by exposing a book to more people is beyond my grasp.
by Toni McGee Causey January 28th, 2009 at 7:35 amI don’t know about the publicity aspect of this being beneficial. What I’m even more curious about is whether or not they’ll even pay up.
And another thing…Google gets a class action suit filed against them for copying authors’ works…yet nothing gets done to Amazon for selling used books, which affords an author not one cent in royalties? Yes, of course there are used bookstores, book-swapping sites, even places like Ebay, where someone can buy an ARC of your book for a penny….which is another issue for another day…. but, in my opinion, Amazon is an animal of a different color.
The music industry has pushed hard for its artists, shutting down free download sites, like Napster, so those artists wouldn’t lose out on revenue. Wouldn’t you think a company the size of Amazon would figure out that it may not be wise to bite the hand that feeds it?
by deborah January 28th, 2009 at 8:25 amAgreed, Toni. A bit like the fox watching the hen house, dontcha think?
by deborah January 28th, 2009 at 8:16 amThere were two great articles about this issue in the February 2009 RWR magazine.
by Amanda January 28th, 2009 at 10:41 amI’m keeping an eye on this one too! Thanks for posting this. We all need to be informed.
by wendy roberts January 28th, 2009 at 8:48 amWelcome, Wendy.
by deborah January 28th, 2009 at 9:55 am