An article on CNet News:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10346253-93.html
First two paragraphs:
Quote:
In a move to assuage European publishers' concerns over book digitization, Google on Monday said European books still listed as commercially available will not be included in its online registry of orphaned and out-of-print works--unless rights holders give their express authorization.
Under the terms of the settlement, Google agreed to pay the authors and publishers $125 million. The company will also be responsible for selling access to copyrighted works in its repository. Most of the revenues from such access would go to the authors and publishers.
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What I find a bit ...hilarious? ...odd? applies to these paragraphs:
Quote:
Representing France at the hearing, Nicolas George of the country's Ministry of Culture said the deal presents "a clear and evident risk for cultural diversity," according to The New York Times.
"Google could unilaterally decide no longer to give access or modify access through a ranking scheme," George said, and for "political and ideological considerations."
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So, they're worried that Google's efforts could present a "risk for cultural diversity", and their response is to keep all European "in print" works OUT of Google's project, thus guaranteeing that Google's effort will NOT have the "cultural diversity" that they're concerned about.
Not that I'm 100% behind Google's efforts myself. I think there's a lot of good there, but potential for a lot of monopolistic abuse, too. But still, this is another case of politicians and publishers fighting the inevitable future...