Quote:
Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer
Why shouldn't Google become keepers and archivists if they're not stopping anyone else from doing the same (which was an issue in a proposed settlement between Google and the Writers' Guild)? Having books searchable makes them easier to find, and providing links to where they can be bought once they are found makes them easier to buy; society is benefited by getting more access to books and authors of obscure works benefit by getting another opportunity to sell their books. Saying that this makes someone a "slave to the system" is hyperbole.
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Google's proposals gave them a quasi-governmental role.
They would have decided for themselves whether publishers or authors had rights over a particular work.
They would have decided they had the rights to sell 'orphan' works, and decided for themselves a rate to pay to a foundation they set up themselves to distribute revenues.
There is a problem with ophan works and copyright, and it should be solved by changes to copyright law, not by large corporations simply announcing that they are going to ignore it for their own benefit.