[Seabound]

From the Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...line-royalties

After searching for books via Google, users will be offered free samples of chosen titles, with the option to buy more. Although it is as yet unclear how much books will cost to download, a royalty organisation, the Book Rights Registry, will take payments from Google (after it has taken a 37% cut) and distribute them to the authors and publishers. "This historic settlement is a win for everyone," said Richard Sarnoff, chairman of the publishers association. "It's hard work writing a book, and even harder work getting paid for it," said Roy Blount, president of the guild. "This deal makes good sense."

...

To start with, the scheme will be targeted at universities and organisations which will pay large institutional subscriptions on behalf of students and researchers. But the deal also enables ordinary customers to download any of the 7m books already scanned into Google's database.