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Google Settles Suit With Authors, Publishers

Google is well on its way to becoming "a significant retailer of out-of-print books" Ars Technica reports, after the search giant settled a lawsuit with book authors and publishers giving it the right to put millions of out-of-print texts online. In exchange, Google will put $125 million into a fund for copyright holders. Judge John Sprizzo approved the settlement in Manhattan yesterday. The suit dates back to the launch of Google Print in 2005, when Google started scanning books at a number of libraries across the country.

At the time--since Google started copying books and making them searchable without gaining the authors' permission--the Google Print initiative was viewed as massive copyright infringement. The suit, which eventually reached class action status, attracted the Author's Guild as well as five major book publishers: McGraw-Hill, Pearson Education, Penguin, John Wiley & Sons, and Simon & Schuster. In June, another hearing will determine whether the pay out agreement is fair, reasonable and adequate. Once it passes that hurdle, the class action suit will be settled and Google will be able to move forward with Google Print without fear of future litigation.

Under the plan, Google would receive 37% of any future revenue from Google Print, and authors and publishers would split the remaining 63%. Google co-founder Sergey Brin called the agreement "a real win-win for us all, the real victors are all the readers. The tremendous wealth of knowledge that lies within the books of the world will now be at their fingertips."

Read the whole story at Ars Technica »

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