ASJA Opposes (Sort of) the Google Book Settlement

Anita Bartholomew -- my co-objector in the freelancers' settlement now at the Supreme Court, as well as a spot-on critic of the Google Books settlement -- passes along the statement "American Society of Journalists and Authors Joins Groundswell of Opposition to Google Book Settlement" (http://www.asja.org/google/).

Anita comments:

Reading the statement, ASJA's main beef may be that it's left out of the Book Rights Registry. But what may be most interesting to us is this section, as it seems a direct contradiction to the Freelance settlement where ASJA didn't believe writers should have control of their works:

"ASJA says, stop the Google-ization of copyright law. Do we really
want Google and a committee making law? Essentially, that is what 'opt out'
requirements in the proposed settlement do. The ASJA believes that if
copyright law needs to be nimbler in this digital age, it still should be
Congress calling the plays. We will ask the court to direct the removal
of deadlines for opting out of the Book Search. Copyright holders should
control their works."