EVIL!!! Yep, that is the growing concensus about the Google Author Settlement. A group of Canandian writers has summed it up thusly --
Authors detect evil in Google's massive online library
"VANCOUVER — Facing a deadline on Friday, several Canadian authors are urging writers to reject a Google settlement offer for copyright infringement for producing digital copies of books.
"Google has just behaved as a thief," said Kim Goldberg, a Nanaimo-based author and part of an ad hoc group of six writers opposing the settlement.
"This is really Google redressing its months and months of pirating," Goldberg said. "I would say that raises the question, 'Can we trust them now to play fair?'"
The settlement stems from the Google Library Project, which involves digitizing books in several libraries.
Katherine Gordon, a Gabriola Island-based author and part of the ad hoc group, said the settlement is a one-sided grab by an untrustworthy, multi-billion-dollar corporation that hasn't properly notified authors.
"If I want to have my book scanned and sold via the Internet, my publisher is quite capable of doing it," Gordon said. "I don't want some major foreign corporation telling me they're doing it for me and it's for my own good."
Gordon, a former contract and business lawyer, said she scrutinized every word of the settlement. "If I were a lawyer advising a client I would say, 'Don't touch it with a 20-foot barge pole.'"
Hmmm . . . I guess they have longer poles up north, here in the states a ten foot pole is usually sufficient to not want to touch something with.
Authors detect evil in Google's massive online library
"VANCOUVER — Facing a deadline on Friday, several Canadian authors are urging writers to reject a Google settlement offer for copyright infringement for producing digital copies of books.
"Google has just behaved as a thief," said Kim Goldberg, a Nanaimo-based author and part of an ad hoc group of six writers opposing the settlement.
"This is really Google redressing its months and months of pirating," Goldberg said. "I would say that raises the question, 'Can we trust them now to play fair?'"
The settlement stems from the Google Library Project, which involves digitizing books in several libraries.
Katherine Gordon, a Gabriola Island-based author and part of the ad hoc group, said the settlement is a one-sided grab by an untrustworthy, multi-billion-dollar corporation that hasn't properly notified authors.
"If I want to have my book scanned and sold via the Internet, my publisher is quite capable of doing it," Gordon said. "I don't want some major foreign corporation telling me they're doing it for me and it's for my own good."
Gordon, a former contract and business lawyer, said she scrutinized every word of the settlement. "If I were a lawyer advising a client I would say, 'Don't touch it with a 20-foot barge pole.'"
Hmmm . . . I guess they have longer poles up north, here in the states a ten foot pole is usually sufficient to not want to touch something with.
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