New York Chapter of the National Writers Union  (UAW Local 1981)

Between The Lines

Read the latest bulletins from the New York chapter - click here. 

  NEWS & VIEWS -A Blog

            for Writers

What does the pricing war  between Amazon and Macmillan mean for authors? Read Ed Hasbrouk's trenchant  analysis - click here.

Learn about Laurence Holder's Playwriting classes - click here. 

* * * * * * * * * *

  GOOGLE BOOKS SETTLEMENT RUNS INTO OPPOSITION.

As of this writing a federal judge is reviewing the out-of-court settlement between Google and two organizations that claim to represent the interests of  “all” writers: the Authors Guild and The Association of American Publishers (AAP). If the judge accepts the settlement, it would turn two hundred years of copyright protection on its head by establishing a compulsory license designed to give Google the right to earn millions of dollars from untold numbers of books, 70% of which are still in copyright.  The rights holders of these books  – referred to in the proposed settlement agreement as the “dead souls” – will get little or nothing. Mostly, nothing.
How did this happen, and what can writers do about it?

THE SETTLEMENT

Almost everyone agrees that it’s a great idea to make orphan works widely available. But e-publishers face the risk of lawsuits if the rights holder of the orphan work pops up and claims damages after they are reprinted. So Google set out to form a class action agreement that protects them against lawsuits in those cases.

Most books under dispute are orphan works. This means that it is difficult (read “expensive”) or impossible to locate the appropriate rights holders to ask for permission to digitize them. Google wants a blanket right to copy and publish all of them without obtaining permission.

The settlement under consideration in federal court will grant Google a carte blanche license to display up to 20 per cent of a copyrighted orphan work, to run ads along side the content – which is the main source of their multi-billion dollar business – and to sell the entire text for a price that Google has not yet announced.  Google will also sell the rights to blocks of texts to libraries, universities, etc.

THE BOOK RIGHTS REGISTRY

If the judge agrees to the settlement, the class action agreement will create a book collecting society, the Book Rights Registry. Google will put in 34 million dollars to start it up. The Registry will disburse  $45 million in settlement funds as compensation to copyright owners for past uses of their books IF the rights holder has registered with Google. If they rights holder fails to register, Google can say it made a “good faith” effort to find the holder and then pockets nearly all the proceeds, giving a fraction of the money to government agencies.

WHAT IS A CLASS ACTION AGREEMENT?

It seems strange that the Authors Guild and the publishing industry can claim to represent all the authors and rights holds of all the books ever published since 1923 (books published before 1923 are generally in the public domain). The class action law allows individuals and organizations to file class action lawsuits with the idea that they represent a whole class of individuals who have suffered some injustice under the current law. The Authors Guild claims to represent a class of injured authors under Google’s original practice of scanning books without first obtaining the rights to them. The Guild argued that Google’s practice was a blatant copyright infraction.

The Author Guild’s class action threatened Google with the possibility that the judge would rule in favor of the authors and award them a big share of Google’s financial pie. So Google got together behind closed doors with the Guild and the AAP and came to an out of court settlement. The agreement has some financial benefits for authors. But at its core the agreement gives Google the right to destroy 200 years of copyright protection -  protection that is inscribed in the U.S. Constitution. The proposed settlement gives Google the de facto right to copy, display on the internet with revenue-generating ads, and sell complete texts of books that are still in copyright without first obtaining permission from the rights holder.

This part of the agreement turns copyright on its head and then smashes the skull wide open.

THE NWU FIGHTS FOR WRITERS’ RIGHTS

The National Writers Union joined a host of other organizations, including the Association of Journalists and Authors, to oppose the settlement. We believe it is vital to the survival of writers and artists that our historic property rights be preserved. We do not oppose any agreement with Google; but we do insist that the settlement require Google to first obtain permission from the rights holder. We also want to see the actual monetary agreement before putting any settlement before a federal judge.

You can help with the campaign by joining the NWU’s efforts to publicize this issue. When you attend book signings, writing classes, conferences and book fairs, raise this issue among writers and book sellers. Write to your representatives. Send letters to the editor. STAY INFORMED ON THIS VITAL ISSUE by joining and receiving bulletins from the NWU.

Fight for your rights – because powerful people want to take them away!

Timothy Sheard, NY Chapter