Comments on: LeGuin Quits Authors Guild Over Google Settlement

By: Frances Grimble

Frances Grimble — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:57:51 +0000

The Google/Author’s Guild Settlement completely sidesteps the issue of whether scanning a complete book to display “snippets” is fair use. Instead, the Settlement is an ongoing publishing contract that gives Google broad publication and sales powers that last for the entire copyright term.

This means the Author’s Guild’s reply to Ursula LeGuin is bogus. Yes, the AG _might_ have lost the “snippet” suit in court. No lawsuit is a sure thing. However, if the AG had _won_ their original suit–or at the very least hammered out in court a harmless-to-copyright-holders definition of “snippet”–that precedent _would_ have protected copyright holders. Since the AG set no precedent, any and every other party that wants to scan entire books to display “snippets” is still free to do so and wait for someone to sue _them_. In short, the Author’s Guild has protected no copyrights at all. They’ve just given Google a huge grant of rights owned by numerous copyright holders with no connection to either the Author’s Guild or Google, and which, contrary to Google’s PR, are by no means all out-of-print or so-called orphan works.

Let me add, that I admire Ursula LeGuin for her principles and her courage to stand by them.

By: David K. M. Klaus

David K. M. Klaus — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 00:52:58 +0000

[pbbbbt!]

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:14:10 +0000

And I might, too.

By: David K. M. Klaus

David K. M. Klaus — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 18:57:18 +0000

After I posted my comment above, and then seeing so many others spell her surname without the space, I considered asking Mike to fix my spelling, but if Gary is correct I had it right from the first.

Yay. Go me. And other expressions of self-approval.

By: Gary Farber

Gary Farber — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 18:29:52 +0000

Again: there is no “Ursula LeGuin”: there’s only “Ursula Le Guin.” You might want to fix your tag?

By: David K. M. Klaus

David K. M. Klaus — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 17:44:28 +0000

I remember back around the time of IguanaCon Harlan Ellison complaining about people who talked the talk but didn’t walk the walk.

Ms. Le Guin walks the walk.