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The ins and outs of the Google class action settlement

More than 150 publishers, authors, agents, and others filled a conference rooom at a Toronto hotel on Thursday to hear Access Copyright’s Roanie Levy break down the U.S. legal settlement between Google and publishers and authors.

The basic text of Levy’s presentation is available online here (downloadable via the link in the second-last paragraph), and the official site pertaining to the settlement is here. For any readers who have been following the issue only peripherally, here’s a recap of some of the main points and important dates.

• First, the settlement provides for a one-time payment to rightsholders (that is, authors and/or publishers) whose books have been digitized by Google without permission up to May 5 of this year. That digitization payment could range from the $60 minimum to $300, depending on how many claims are registered. Claims must be filed by January 5, 2010; that can be done here.
• Those who wish to opt out of the class action settlement – thereby preserving their right to sue Google themselves – must do so by May 5.
• Going forward, Google is hoping to, ah, monetize its online book holdings through online ads, institutional subscriptions (such as to libraries and schools), and single-digital-copy consumer sales. The plan calls for rightsholders to receive 63% of any such revenue, with Google keeping the rest.
• A third-party registry will be established to manage the flow of money and rights; such a group will function much as Access Copyright does in Canada.
• Rightsholders who are part of the settlement can opt to exclude specific books from Google’s online offerings, and can also set single-copy consumer prices themselves. Books that fall under the settlement must be excluded by April 5, 2011.

Note that these are the barest bones of a complicated agreement, and readers should check the links above for all the nuances and provisos. Levy, for her part, stressed that rightsholders whose books are affected should register a claim. “Nobody’s going to be out looking for you,” she warned, noting that Google’s class-action payment will be divided only among rightsholders who’ve filed a claim. “Google pays. The money’s just not going to end up in your pocket.”