[publishing] The banal evil of the Google copyright settlement | jlake.com
Posted by I.A.M. in BLOG-O-RAMA, books, LIT-O-RAMA, rant, TECHNOLOGYThanks to the genius which is Mari Adkins, I checked out this post here: “[publishing] The banal evil of the Google copyright settlement | jlake.com”.
Apparently the Google plan of putting every book in the world on-line is cleared to happen, and all writers (or their estates) who do not wish their work(s) to be available to everyone without charge have a little under two months to state their objection in writing. If they do not do so, they have no legal right to control of their writing.
All over the world there is the sound of authors saying “Eh? How’s that again? Isn’t this completely opposite to anything that’s ever been agreed?” The answer to that is ‘yes, it certainly is, but it’s too late now.’
For a dose of “the new reality”, let’s try this on for size, shall we?
The real problem, the evil here, is the notion now being put into practice that a copyright license can be asserted by a third party in the absence of the copyright holder specifically forbidding it.
All through modern copyright history until now, a licensor seeking a sub-right was required to negotiate with the copyright holder before exploiting that license. No differently from a tenant seeking to rent a property is required to negotiate with the landlord before they move in.
As of now, I no longer control the sub-rights to my copyright. Under the terms that Google and the Authors Guild have set up, anyone who wants to make a commercial use of them can do so. It’s up to me to notice, to be aware, and to take steps to defend my copyright. If I don’t, well, too bad for me.
And if you don’t think Hollywood lawyers aren’t already all over this, you’re dreadfully naïve.
Have a read through the article for the complete run-down, especially you authors, as this will have an effect on everything you’ve ever written or will write ever again.
And I’m working on the long-mentioned post about my last day in London right now, so that’ll be here tomorrow. No really, it will! I swear!
None of you care do you…? Well, alright, my mother will, but that hardly counts, does it?
Ian Alexander Martin [
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Well, yes, she will and yes, it does count in the life of this human being.
Shocked does not cover my feeling about the Google thing. After all these years of drilling into people’s heads that they must respect copyright for the sake of the authors I don’t know what to say. Does this mean that people can photocopy anything they want and make whatever use of it they want? Why would anyone write anything ever again (except for those compulsive people who can’t keep their hands away from pens or keyboards) and why would anyone set out to publish any of the above mentioned writings since one print run is all they would be able to sell? My chin is hanging somewhere around my knees. Whatever happened to “intellectual property”?
The stunned among us really want to know. Guess I’ll have to read the article.
Further to this, thanks to Mike Cane, is a view he expressed about the situation while it was still very much up in the air last autumn. Read his post from last year RIGHT HERE
And yet more further to this, again courtesy of Mike Cane (via Twitter), Google and Sony are teaming up to make books more available in their software format. Note that these are public domain titles and not any still within the copyright control of the authors or their estates. That’s something anyone can get behind, especially if they’re public domain and out-of-print to boot. Read Post Here
…and even more further to this, thanks due to CBC Arts via Twitter), “Canadian writers, publishers gather to consider Google book-digitalization http://bit.ly/mf5O”