Europeans Seem to Know Little About Google Settlement, But Enough Not to Like It
By Andrew Albanese -- Publishers Weekly, 4/22/2009 3:52:00 AM
Even though the deal does not directly apply to them, European and U.K. publishers and authors have been wary of the Google Book Search settlement from the outset, and at a session closing day two of the London Book Fair, they voiced their concern directly to one of the deal’s architects, Authors Guild president Paul Aiken. “You can look at this as a big old U.S. sandbox,” Aiken conceded to the audience, amid questions about what the settlement might mean in practice. “We’re trying this out.”
For his part, Aiken kept an even keel in what he must have known would be unsymapthetic territory, after a morning editorial in the Bookseller Show Daily slammed the deal. Aiken was clear, eminently knowledgeable and stuck to explaining the factual, broad strokes of the deal, emphasizing throughout that the agreement applied to the U.S. only. His British counterpart on the panel, Benjamin King, head of policy and research, Publishers Association, politely took issue with the settlement, describing it as “controversial,” as well as "complex, exhaustive and exhausting.”
King criticized the settlement on a number of fronts, from being a U.S.-centric deal that doesn’t fully take into account the interests of foreign rightsholders, to the administrative burden it will lead to for authors and publishers, to its potential for a monopoly on orphan works. His strongest concern, however, was also the most basic: “Choice, or the lack of it,” King said. “Opting out isn’t a viable option,” he explained, because, simply put, there is no real alternative plan. He said that retaining an individual right to sue the multi-billion dollar, well-lawyered corporate behemoth that is Google over a book scan was meaningless, calling the decision to opt in or out a "Hobson's Choice." Aiken more or less conceded the point. “If you want to sue Google, be our guest,” he said to laughter, adding that that line was always “good for entertainment.”
As for orphan works, works for which no identifiable rightsholder has come forward, Aiken pushed the deal as a potential solution, telling conference-goers that the financial incentives offered will bring rightsholders forward. "There are fewer orphan works now than before the settlement," Aiken said, adding that the work of the Book Rights Registry would also clarify what is in the public domain. "The orphan works issue will shrink."
As the debate moved forward, it was clear that Europe remains largely unaware, and wary, of the deal’s terms and their potential impact. Philippa Milnes-Smith, representing LAW Writers' and Artists' Agents, said that with the May 5 deadline looming to opt out or object to the deal, there had only recently been an “awakening” in Europe regarding the settlement. She said the situation had become "uncomfortable," as European holders of American copyrights have now begun to face the administrative burden the settlement places on them. She also suggested that rightsholders in many non-English-speaking countries lack a solid translation of the settlement document, calling many translations thus far “so bad as to be useless.”
In the Q&A period, it was also apparent that many Europeans did not truly understand the deal, asking questions easily answered on the settlement’s FAQ. As for concerns about what the deal portends for a future deal for Google in Europe, Jan Constantine, general counsel and assistant director of the Authors Guild, was blunt, noting that the sweeping U.S. settlement was a class action, and since there is no class action law in Europe, that option will not be available to Google there. “Google can't deal with you like it did in the U.S.,” she noted.
One questioner, however, did note a key twist in the deal. He urged Aiken never to push the private settlement as a legislative solution, because it shifted the administrative burden to an opt-out from an opt-in system. “Right now, they have to come to me,” the questioner noted of the current copyright regime. “Under this deal, I now have to go to them.” Aiken was quite aware of the twist, emphasizing this was a negotiated settlement. “We have no intention of pursuing legislation,” he said.
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