2008-10-29: Good news! Google has settled a huge infringement lawsuit, agreeing that there is this picky ol' provision called copyright law that keeps it from well, stealing books. (What else can you call selling online access to words you didn't write and don't have permission to use?)

Back in September, 2005 Google quietly began scanning books in university libraries willy-nilly, with the goal of creating a giant, profit-making database. Some of the books were in the public domain but many others were not. Google digitized the lot, without so much as a nod to authors' copyright protections. The Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers and several individuals filed suit to stop this blatant piracy.

Yesterday the parties announced a settlement that will serve both writers and Google. Terms of the settlement still have to be approved by the court, but assuming it happens, writers who own the rights to scanned books should get at least $60 per work, depending on how many authors make claims. (The total settlement amount is $45 million.)

Because the online use of books only will increase, the best news is the creation of a new Books Rights Registry, which will do for authors what ASCAP now does for songwriters: monitor use and collect fees. The person who holds the rights to a book will be paid when it's pulled up on Google, downloaded at a public library, or otherwise accessed in digital format. According to the Authors Guild, "The Registry will be controlled by a board of authors and publishers; as part of the settlement, Google will pay $34.5 million to get the Registry up and running, notify rights holders of the settlement, and process claims."

All of us are winners here. We will be able to call up an enormous number of books on our computers. All the while, authors and publishers will get a portion of the digital dollar to be made from this enterprise. ASJA President Russell Wild joins me in congratulating our fellow writers organization, the Authors Guild, and the Association of American Publishers for their diligence in this very important matter. Well done!

-- Salley Shannon, ASJA vice president and Advocacy Committee chair.

-- PS: We will tell you how to make claims, when the time comes. In the meantime, see Google's statement: http://books.google.com/googlebooks/agreement