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Google and book publishers are rewriting the rules of the publishing industry online. The search giant finally settled two copyright lawsuits, making a deal for it as well as publishers and authors to profit from offering out-of-print books online.
Google has already scanned about seven million books, over four million of which are out of print; this part of Google's collaboration with university and research libraries to create digital images of their books. Two lawsuits were filed in 2005, Google now agreeing to pay $125 million, $45 million of which will be used to compensate authors and publishers whose books it has already scanned.
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Under the terms of this agreement Google [GOOG
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] will show up to 20 percent of a book's text at new charge, but will charge a fee for access to the entire book online, while a subscription fee would give libraries and their members access to entire collections. The deal splits the revenue—37 percent to Google, 63 percent to publishers and authors, using the same split to revenue from Google ads on previews of scanned books.
My colleague Jim Goldman calls this a wake-up call for Google, that it needs to compensate content creators for the use of their products . My colleague Gloria McDonough-Taub writes from the authors and publishers' perspective, quoting the Association of American Publishers, saying how crucial this agreement is in allowing authors and publishers to control their intellectual property even in its new online incarnation.
From my perspective as the media correspondent, this deal is exactly what needs to happen between content creators and the technology companies that increasingly control content distribution. It's a win win—it compensates authors and publishers, it's great for consumers, giving access to books long out of print, and could provide libraries with affordable access to tomes they couldn't get on their shelves.
Publishers are particularly happy that Google must get their permission for their books that are currently in print to be included in Google's search program, despite the fact that Google had argued that due to "fair use" doctrines, it didn't have to.
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