Industry news
Canadian authors mount last-minute opposition to Google Book settlement
With only one day remaining to opt out of the Google Book Search settlement, a coalition of Canadian authors has launched a last-minute e-mail blitz voicing its opposition, claiming that there simply hasn’t been enough time to make sense of how the settlement will work.
The e-mail, which is being disseminated through social networking sites and listservs, was written by B.C. author Katherine Gordon, who is also a former contracts lawyer. According to Gordon, the coalition’s aim is to “spread the word as widely as possible, in an effort to ensure that this country’s copyright owners have the information they need in time to protect their legal rights.”
“The best way I can describe this appalling deal,” the message continues, “is to compare it to a thief breaking into your house in the middle of the night and saying that if you haven’t locked your windows, your property is theirs for the taking.”
Another member of the coalition, B.C. poet Kim Goldberg, told Q&Q Omni that she sees the settlement as little more than legalized, large-scale piracy, and that her fellow authors shouldn’t feel obliged to go along with it. “There is no need to jump on board the first offer that comes along, particularly when it’s offered by a thief,” she said.
Gordon and Goldberg aren’t alone in their sentiments, of course. Over the last few weeks, international opposition to the settlement has grown rapidly. In the U.S., The National Writers Union, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and a number of library groups have all weighed in against it, as has the high-profile talent agency William Morris Endeavor and the corporate giants Microsoft, Yahoo, and Amazon. Meanwhile, the U.S. Justice Department has launched an antitrust investigation.
In Europe, the industry is abuzz over Google’s plan. Several big U.K. publishers such as Oxford University Press and Random House support the settlement, but in France and Germany there are widespread plans to oppose it. In Germany, almost 3,000 people – including authors Günter Grass and Daniel Kehlmann – have signed a petition to try to stop Google from going forward with its plans. The German government officially announced its opposition on Sept. 1, claiming the settlement would “irrevocably alter the landscape of international copyright law.”
“It seems outrageous that an American court can rule [on] a settlement that concerns European authors and publishers,” said Pieter Swinkels, editor-in-chief at Dutch publishing house De Bezige Bij, in an e-mail to Q&Q Omni. “Many Dutch publishers object to Google’s approach … but choose a pragmatic route. The general advice is to opt out of the settlement only if you have real and clear plans to take legal action against Google.”
Deborah Windsor, the executive director of The Writers’ Union of Canada, told Q&Q Omni that the union isn’t telling its members what to do, but is simply advising them to be informed and make a decision they are comfortable with. The union is, however, alerting members to a little-known loophole pertaining to the opt-out deadline. According to Windsor, even those who opt out still have the chance to opt back in before the Oct. 7 fairness hearing in New York.
TWUC is also preparing to send a letter of objection to the U.S. court prior to the objection deadline of Sept. 8.
Author and former TWUC chair Susan Swan has made the personal decision to opt in, but she still has a few concerns with the settlement. “Google has inverted the principle of copyright,” she said. “They own it unless you say they don’t, and that – coming from a huge corporation – is frightening. And some think [that Google is] going to use that to their advantage. We have to be extra vigilant that they don’t.”
Swan’s agent, Alexis Hurley of InkWell Management in New York, is encouraging her clients to remain in the settlement, making sure that they know how to register and that, once they do, they understand how to remove their books.
Google representatives, of course, maintain that the settlement will benefit authors, publishers, and readers. And they have a number of authors on their side, including Toronto poet and novelist Brian Joseph Davis, who said that Google shouldn’t even have to pay to scan books. “Why should it cost Google a fee for doing a service for my book and career?” he argued. “Sure, they are making billions off their ads, but as a cult author … I’d be nothing without Google and their transformation of the Internet.”
Davis’s wife, author Emily Schultz, took a similar stance. “At this point in time, I think that online reading leads back to the original source, so I’m all for it,” she said. “The more people to see my work, the better.”
B.C. poet Elizabeth Bachinsky cautioned against opting out right away, arguing that opting out means you’ll never get anything from the Google settlement. She also noted that authors can still take their works offline for as long as a year and a half after they opt in. “That’s not a particularly pressing deadline. I’m just going to wait and see,” she said.
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