[A2k] CNET News: Google Book settlement faces legal assault

[Claude Almansi]

Thank you for this information, Judit:

On Mon, Apr 13, 2009 at 9:59 PM, Judit Rius Sanjuan
<judit.rius@keionline.org> wrote:
> http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10216485-38.html
>
> April 10, 2009 3:00 PM PDT
> Google Book settlement faces legal assault
> by Stephanie Condon

Re:

>
> A proposed settlement in a copyright lawsuit involving Google's book
> search has drawn applause, envy, and from a handful of critics, an
> attempt to derail the deal.

I wish the attempt succeeds. Below, the full answer I got from the
Google Settlement contact address to my queries about books by non-US
writers published by non-US publishers. I strongly dislike it, in
particular the part that says:

"If you do nothing, you will be bound by the Settlement. If you do not
claim your Books, you will not receive any Cash Payment or be able to
participate in future revenue from Google=E2=80=99s use of your Books. By
staying in the Settlement, you will, however, release all copyright
infringement claims you might have against Google for digitizing your
Books without your permission"

For years, I have tried to convince other digital migrants that the
Web is not the Wild West, that there are rules etc. Now I feel like a
traveler held at gun point by a highway man in cahoots with the local
sherif. And what is particularly frustrating is that I really liked
the idea of books that had been gathering dust on the shelves of
libraries were being digitized - but not to be exploited in this way
by US Google, with the blessing of the US Authors' Guild.

 It's not so much the money in my case - most of the books I'm part
right-holder to never made more than the advance already paid - it's
the barriers that Google will be able to put to the full use of all
foreign books present in US libraries in order to sell full access to
them. And a relatively full access at that, as users will only be able
to copy-paste or print a part of each work.

How can they retroactively modify copyright agreements made between
foreign authors and publishers, without even asking them about the
modification?

Best

Claude


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: BookSettlement_en <BookSettlement_en@rustconsulting.com>
Date: Mon, Apr 13, 2009 at 8:46 PM
Subject: RE: Google Settlement - non US residents issues
To: Claude Almansi <claude.almansi@gmail.com>


If you are a citizen of another country or live in another country,
you are likely to own a U.S. copyright interest if:



Your Book was published in the United States;

Your Book was not published in the United States, but your country has
copyright relations with the United States because it is a member of
the Berne Convention; or

Your country had copyright relations with the United States at the
time of the Book=E2=80=99s publication.



You should assume that you own a U.S. copyright interest in your Book,
unless you are certain that your Book was published in, and that you
reside and are located in, one of the few countries that have not had
or do not now have copyright relations with the United States. The
Copyright Office has published a list of countries with which the
United States has copyright relations, available at
www.copyright.gov/circs/circ38a.pdf. If you have further questions
about whether you own a U.S. copyright interest in your Book or
Insert, you can contact Class Counsel, who are the attorneys
representing the Settlement Class. Their names and contact information
are on the Notice. You may also seek advice from an attorney or a
rights organization in your country.



If you do not opt out, you are "in" the Settlement, and you have the
following choices:

Claim your Books and Inserts at http://www.googlebooksettlement.com;
Claim a payment for any Books and Inserts that Google digitized on or
before May 5, 2009;
Request that one or more of your Books be removed from the Books
database or that one or more of your Books not be digitized;
Exclude or include one or more of your Books in various Display Uses
under the Settlement;
Exclude or include one or more of your Inserts in all Display Uses
under the Settlement;

If you stay in the settlement you may also object to some or all terms
of the Settlement.

You may also opt out of the Settlement Class.

If you do nothing, you will be bound by the Settlement. If you do not
claim your Books, you will not receive any Cash Payment or be able to
participate in future revenue from Google=E2=80=99s use of your Books. By
staying in the Settlement, you will, however, release all copyright
infringement claims you might have against Google for digitizing your
Books without your permission

If you own a U.S. copyright interest in a Book or an Insert, you need
not do anything at this time to remain in the Settlement.

If you want to claim a Cash Payment for Books or Inserts digitized by
Google on or before May 5, 2009 without your permission, you must
submit a Claim Form for those Books or Inserts by January 5, 2010.

If you wish to remain in the Settlement and get the benefit of
revenues earned from Google=E2=80=99s use of your Books, you should submit =
a
Claim Form as soon as possible, although there is no absolute deadline
for this.

If a person or company has acquired the assets of the organization
that has gone out of business or dissolved, then that person or
company is the new Rightsholder, and should claim his, her or its
interest with the Registry.

(...)
Rust Consulting, Inc.
www.rustconsulting.com