Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave_S
How so, when any rights holder can decline participation?
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Authorization to distribute should be opt-in, not opt-out. In other words, Google should not be authorized by default. It's supposed to be the other way around, unless somebody wants to change the law such that out-of-print books are automatically authorized unless the copyright holder says otherwise. But, that's not what the law currently says.
This settlement, if allowed to go forward, would give Google a different standing on distribution rights than anyone else (unless other companies reach the same settlement).
Personally, I think the settlement goes too far (based on current copyright law). The actual plaintiffs were represented by 5 authors. Those 5 authors have basically settled with Google on behalf of every author who has ever had a book published in the US, and is giving away a default authorization. I think the membership of the class is way too broad and the settlement should not be allowed to give away those rights on an opt-out basis. That's just my opinion though. On the other hand, I'm not a big fan of current copyright either.