Google is settling its long battle with the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers (AAP). The groups have been embroiled in copyright litigation with Google over its Book Search product for two years.
Under the agreement, Google will make payments totaling $125 million.
The settlement could expand online access to millions of in-copyright books and other written materials in the U.S. from the collections of participating libraries. The negotiation resolves a class-action suit brought by the Authors Guild and five separate lawsuits filed by five large publishers representing the AAP’s membership.
“Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Today, together with the authors, publishers and libraries, we have been able to make a great leap in this endeavor,” said Sergey Brin, cofounder and president of technology at Google. “While this agreement is a real win-win for all of us, the real victors are all the readers. The tremendous wealth of knowledge that lies within the books of the world will now be at their fingertips.”
Finding a Win-Win-Win
The agreement promises benefits for readers, researchers, authors and publishers, according to Google, because it makes content from millions of books available in digital form and searchable on the Web. At the same time, the agreement acknowledges the rights and interests of copyright owners and gives them the ability to control how their intellectual property is accessed online.
Perhaps most important to the authors and publishers, the settlement offers a way to receive compensation for online access to their works.
“It’s hard work writing a book, and even harder work getting paid for it,” said Roy Blount Jr., president of the Authors Guild. “As a reader and researcher, I’ll be delighted to stop by my local library to browse the stacks of some of the world’s great…