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Google Files a Revised Books Settlement Proposal
At 14 minutes to midnight last night, Google, the Authors Guild, and the Association of American Publishers filed a revised settlement agreement with a US district court in New York. Here is the blog post of Dan Clancy, Google Books engineering director. Google has provided an outline of the differences from the original settlement (PDF) and a FAQ (PDF); the full revised settlement (PDF) is also available. In brief, the changes include limiting the settlement to books published in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia; a court-appointed fiduciary to represent the rights of orphaned works' (undiscovered) rightsholders; and further opening up Google's library to competitors in ways that don't favor Google. The new plan was immediately criticized as a "sleight of hand" by the Open Book Alliance, a consortium of Google's opponents including Microsoft and Amazon. The Internet Archive said, "None of the proposed changes appear to address the fundamental flaws illuminated by the Department of Justice and other critics that impact public interest."
Google is trying to include a MAP BOOK my friend published 12 years ago. The company he had then is no longer is business, but he is updating the map every few years and publishing with a different company.
Google's OPT-OUT process is confusing and stupid.
Why should they get to sell a book that's only 12 years old, and a book that is in print and updated although under a different company name??
Isn't 12 years a little to recent to grab the copyright and sell, especially when it competes with an update product??
He's having a bear of a time opting out.