Google and publishers finally agree: it's a brave new digital world

I’m sure you all remember Google’s digital book scanning project. The project, started earlier this century, aimed to scan every book in existence (just about) and make them available on line. Publishers and authors went to court over copyright infringement claims, and they had a strong case. Or at least they did when it looked like digital formats were a threat to the traditional closed ecosystem of writing, publishing, selling, buying and reading. That was then, etc.

Today, things seem a lot different. Now we’re further along in the digital transformation of print media, and just about everyone recognizes that digitization of, well, everything, is pretty much inevitable. Just like the music publishers before them and the movie industry right behind them, book and periodical publishers have figured out that eBooks are at the very least a whole new way to sell content. In fact, in a future that’s closer than we all imagine, they may become the only way.

This is why the publishers – one half of the suit against Google – came to a settlement this week, in a news item that barely made the news. At least it got much less coverage than the start of the lawsuits back in 2005. In an agreement whose terms were not fully disclosed, the publishers agreed to let Google scan away, presumably for cash payments and access to the digital content themselves. Google thus provides a scanning service on older, pre-digital books, so the publishers don’t have to do the work. Google in turn agreed to let publishers opt out of the program and exclude their books from being scanned.

Still hanging over the project however, is one potential show-stopper, and one in which there is more at stake. That is the author half; they have not settled, although the publishers action this week now leaves them without a powerful ally. The authors of older works – e.g. out of print but still under copyright ownership – face a dilemma. Google will potentially reveal parts of their work (20%) to the billions of Googlers on the planet, diluting the authors control and introducing yet another middleman who can take monetary or some other kind of cut from the profit. But the other edge of this sword is the benefit authors may receive from the exposure of older work that would otherwise die a neglected death. All those Googlers are potential new readers, after all. This part of the issue has a lot of implications.

The future demise of printed books is not inevitable, but survival is not guaranteed either. As president of the board of the West Chester Public Library, I am part of a team that works hard to ensure our institution stays relevant, even while eBook readers become as commonplace as library cards. Library staffers ‘get it’ when it comes to digital formats, and they’re ready to serve the public’s demand for the written word in every form that can be provided, including eBooks. (WCPL has eight color Nooks available for circulation, along with a large and growing collection of digital books and magazine content.) I believe the library has a part to play in helping readers transition from the paper and ink world to the electronic.

So it’s no secret or surprise that many things are in a transitional state; book publishing is one of many. The laws of copyright were originally designed for a different universe than the one we live in now. I support 100% the concept that the creator should be the first to exercise ownership rights, and be the first to benefit from a created work, including the digital version of that work. But there are many paths to how a work may get to that format, at least until the transition is over. This is just one more disruption to a paradigm we thought would never change.

 The NY Times covered the Google suit settlement here.