Google promises to give competitors the right to sell their scans

[zerospinboson]

This is a pretty radical promise made by Google:

"Google will host the digital (out-of-print) books online, and retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble or your local bookstore will be able to sell access to users on any Internet- connected device they choose," Google said in a statement.
The announcement would affect most of the books available through the Google book scan project since most authors with books in print would decide not to sell through Google, said Paul Aiken, head of the Authors Guild.
Asked if this was a major change in the deal, David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer, told Reuters: "It is and it isn't. We always had this vision that we were going to be open."

CNET:

Specifically, Google announced a reseller program that would let competitors get some measure of the rights--and revenue--that Google itself could get through the settlement. "Any bookseller--Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Microsoft--would be able to sell the books covered by the settlement," said David C. Drummond, Google's chief legal officer. Under the proposed settlement, Google would get 37 percent of revenue from e-books sold through its service, and through the reseller program, the reseller would get "the significant majority" of that 37 percent, Drummond said.

For its part, Google has no objection to legislation--even if it grants competitors rights to the same books the proposed settlement would give it access to. "We support congress going in and legislating around that," Drummond said.

And Amazon behaves like a twit:

Amazon: No thanks
But Amazon indicated it's not interested after Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, a Democrat from Michigan, asked the company's reaction to this "thrilling new piece of information" from Google.
"The Internet has never been about intermediation," said Paul Misener, Amazon's vice president of global policy. "We're happy to work with rights holders without anybody else's help."

Now, it does seem somewhat odd to me that they would only announce this now (as it seems to muddy the debate rather badly, which makes you wonder what they're distracting you from), but..
Anyway, at this time it is unclear from the news articles (to me) whether this access would apply to all works scanned by them, or only the non-orphan works, but it still seems like a grand gesture.

[phenomshel]

I wondered all along why they didn't offer this - it would effectively derail the protests; unless, of course, you're Amazon, evidently.
I hate to attribute charitable motives to any corporation, (it usually turns around and bites me in the ....), but I'm sorely tempted to believe here that Google wants what it says it wants (and the same thing I want). Public access to the books.

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by zerospinboson

This is a pretty radical promise made by Google:

CNET:


And Amazon behaves like a twit:

Now, it does seem somewhat odd to me that they would only announce this now (as it seems to muddy the debate rather badly, which makes you wonder what they're distracting you from), but..
Anyway, at this time it is unclear from the news articles (to me) whether this access would apply to all works scanned by them, or only the non-orphan works, but it still seems like a grand gesture.

I have to agree - it seems to me they only announced this when they had to - to answer some of the lawsuits/objections being brought against the proposed settlement. Why not be upfront if Google intended to share the profit all along? Not quite a grand gesture if concessions need to be pulled out during a protracted legal battle.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by zerospinboson

Now, it does seem somewhat odd to me that they would only announce this now (as it seems to muddy the debate rather badly, which makes you wonder what they're distracting you from)

Maybe it's a tactic to push off the companies objecting the loudest so that they can get through the final approval of the Settlement (in October?).