Dear Sir or Madam,

As a very small publisher of non-commericial literature, it is my belief that Google or any other internet service provides an enormous ‘shop window’ for otherwise unknown or neglected authors. The era of favouritism in the literary and academic world is not yet past, that means the undemocratic exclusion of authors from the marketplace. Bricks, mortar, expense account publishing, sales and sometimes taxpayer subsidisies have distorted a fairly dishonourable business. On one hand, moronic advances given and on the other, royalties with held ‘in case of returns’. As it is, now that the chips are down and workers are getting chopped across the board, it will be the authors who will be squeezed the most in the long and short run.

Google and others, no matter what the squabble over pennies is about, at least ensure market access which big book retailers and the cult culturism can never offer.

Simply put: the market has changed thanks to a range of technologies, ‘culture’ has changed so adopt, adapt or get out.

Dennis Greig

“Simply put: the market has changed thanks to a range of technologies, ‘culture’ has changed so adopt, adapt or get out.”

I prefer the fourth option: sue Google until they respect copyright law.