Register of Copyrights Questions Google Settlement

In the fourth and final part of her valuable series on the deeply flawed Google book settlement, Anita Bartholomew reports the reservations of Marybeth Peters, the U.S. Register of Copyrights:

http://editorialconsultant.wordpress.com/2009/04/13/the-register-of-copyrights-weighs-in-on-google-settlement/

Here's the money paragraph:

"The first point [Peters] made, and the one she returned to many times, is that she’s troubled by the use of class action lawsuits to grab future rights because they are, in essence, legislation via litigation."

Irv Muchnick

How to Opt Out of the Google Book Settlement

I just opted out myself. To join me, go to http://www.googlebooksettlement.com/r/enter_opt_out and fill out the form.

At the bottom of the form, you will need to decide whether to check the box marked

Submit to Google my request that Google not digitize the books identified above or, if Google has already digitized any or all of these books, that it not display material from the books, including snippets.

or the one marked

I request that Google contact me to discuss the books and Inserts identified above.

Below is the Google settlement site's answer to the question, "What happens to the books of authors and publishers who opt out of the settlement?" It is gobbledygook. I chose the second option, mostly because I want to see what happens next.


Irv Muchnick


***************

If an author or publisher opts out of the Settlement, the terms of the Settlement will not apply to this author or publisher. This means that the author or publisher is retaining all rights to bring a legal action against Google, for digitizing and displaying the author’s or publisher’s books and Inserts, and against the Participating Libraries, if desired. It also means that the Settlement neither authorizes Google to make certain uses of these books and Inserts nor does it prohibit Google from doing so. By checking a box on the opt out page, however, the author or publisher can request that the Settlement Administrator ask Google not to digitize (or, if already digitized, not to display any contents from) the books or Inserts identified in the opt out form, Although Google has no obligation under the Settlement to comply with such request, Google has advised the Settlement Administrator that it is Google’s current policy to voluntarily honor such requests, if the books or Inserts are individually specified, are in copyright, and the author or publisher has a valid and unchallenged copyright interest in their books and Inserts. Alternatively, if, notwithstanding the decision of an author or publisher to opt out of the Settlement, the author or publisher would like Google to contact them regarding Google’s use of their books or Inserts other than through the Settlement, the author or publisher can check a different box on the opt out page.