New York Library Association on How to Fix the Google Book Settlement

The Open Book Alliance is made up of a wide coalition of librarians, legal scholars, authors, publishers, and technology companies dedicated to countering the proposed Google Book Settlement. From time to time, we will publish posts from members of our group. This one comes from Michael Borges, Executive Director of the New York Library Association.

“As the leader of an organization representing a diverse array of librarians and libraries – including public, k-12 school, college and special  – in New York State, part of the New York Library Association’s mission is to ensure equitable access to the highest quality library and information services. The digitization of books promises to help us in that mission, unlocking a wealth of knowledge for people everywhere. But the Google Book Settlement, as it’s currently written, threatens to break that promise by creating a monopoly that would have sole control over the largest digital database in the world.

“If approved, the settlement would give Google a monopoly on digital rights to orphaned works and other books and create a Books Rights Registry that will set subscription prices to this database of information, unrestrained by competing alternatives.  The public access provisions of the settlement are also inadequate.  The settlement only permits one free Public Access Service (PAS) terminal per public library to view digital works available exclusively through Google. Finally, the patron privacy issues are a huge concern.  There are no guarantees or provisions in the settlement that insure that patron information will not be used or sold by Google or to third parties without permission.  In fact, the ability for Google to use book search data to feed their already sophisticated marketing tools is reason enough for concern.

“A public policy issue of this magnitude should be not be handled in this matter, but by Congress in a deliberative and open format that allows for greater input from concerned parties and the public. Here are some simple steps that could be taken to fix this settlement and improve it for all people, not just the three powerful parties that negotiated it.

“First, the Book Rights Registry should include representatives of the library community and members of the public appointed by Congress to help push against the natural inclination for a monopoly to set prices high. Second, the public access provision should be expanded to include other types of libraries like K-12 school libraries, and all libraries should be protected from predatory pricing. And lastly, Google should be required to commit to a more detailed and stringent privacy policy that at least meets that of libraries around the country when it comes to protecting the privacy of their patrons.”