Not surprising, since Google’s attitude from the beginning has been that they can do whatever they like with other people’s intellectual property, without taking the time to ask permission. Levy manages to make it sound like it’s the author’s fault if Google copies and sells their work without obtaining permission and paying for it. This has been a test case of the preservation of authors’ rights in electronic media, and organizations like Access Copyright have failed abysmally in their responsibilities to defend those rights.

“Google pays. The money’s just not going to end up in your pocket.”

I bet there’s a lot of unintentional truth in that statement. The lawyers who negotiated this settlement will certainly end up with a lot more money in their pockets than any writer ever will.

The only way to avoid being forced to accept Google’s abuse of your copyright, and their ongoing exploitation of your work, is to opt out:
http://www.googlebooksettlement.com/r/enter_opt_out