Google struck a deal with the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers this past fall that allows Google to create a book rights registry. Authors and publishers register their works, the public can browse parts of them, and the authors and publishers are compensated for the books sold through Google. The issue that is arising is that this would give Google sole rights to orphan works, writings that are still under copyright, but whose copyright ownership is in question. Google and publishers would share profits, while the copyright holder would receive nothing.
The Justice Department has given Google a big, “Hold up now. You can’t just do that.” In the Justice Department’s on-record opinion, orphan books that have no one to speak for them should be taken out of the agreement.
I concur.
Recent Comments