Google Book Settlement Lacks Poetic Justice

U.K. author Gillian Spraggs has taken the lead in sounding alarm bells for colleagues that may not be aware they’ll be ensnared in the GBS.  Earlier today, Spraggs released a paper titled, “The Google Book Settlement: a survival aid for UK authors.”

The author (a poet herself) has particular concern for the authors of shorter works:

I believe that short story writers, poets and essayists who have had work published in edited anthologies and multi-author collections should read the following summary with special attention. Under the settlement the treatment of such works (’inserts’, as they are called in the agreement) is different in crucial respects from the treatment of books. It is not, for instance, possible for the author to arrange for their removal from Google’s database. To the best of my knowledge, this information has not been well publicized within the UK.

Spraggs’ piece also illuminates the confusing terms that may be forced upon authors.  On the topic of opting-out, Spraggs writes:

It should be noted that when it first came under fire over its ‘Library Project’ (i.e. for digitizing books without permission), [Google] promised then that it would not digitize books if the rights-holders specifically requested they refrain. However, there have since been complaints that these requests have not always been honored [more information].

Of course, Professor Spraggs is not the only voice from across the Atlantic with significant questions about the proposed GBS.  The New York Times wrote today that President Nicolas Sarkozy has pledged over a billion dollars for a program to digitize and house books in the French National Library.

The move is a direct response to opposition in France about handing exclusive book rights to a single advertising company like Google.