No matter how the Google settlement ends up, Google's book scanning frenzy is going to have an impact on everyone who produces any "Media" for years and years. And the extent of that impact cannot yet be measured,but even at this early stage, it doesn't look good.
The way I look at this is that, in spite of Google's "Do No Evil" shtick, their technology prowess and financial resources have allowed them to commit massive copyright violations on a scale that has never before been possible.
And Google is not Robin Hood, robbing the rich to give to the poor thousands of books that would not be otherwise available. This is a very touching story that some may swallow, but the fact is that Google has stolen the work of hundreds of thousands authors, illustrators, and publishers and is attempting to justify their actions by offering their stolen goods to the public - with certain strings attached.They seem to have had a little help from certain cash strapped libraries that may not have thought through all the consequences of giving up their collection to Google to scan. Not least of which is that if scans of this material are available on line, why patronize the library?
Since Google wants to be a "Media Company" they fully understand that they need to own or control or at least tie up the rights to as much "Media" as possible, and the theft of the rights of the authors, illustrators, and publishers of at least some10 million books looked to them to be the quickest route to becoming a "Media Company."
They also recognized that intellectual property rights is a very complex area of the law, and that the public has a very short attention span.
So Google worked out a "settlement" that is so stunningly complicated, convoluted and far reaching that it will take years to sort it all out in the courts. Google has the financial wherewithal to keep this thing tied up in the courts for years and years. Almost everybody will have forgotten about the whole thing by the time the final settlement has been worked out.
As time goes on, and everybody gets all twisted up in the minutia of the details of the settlement, and focusing on what celebrity author is suing Google. Google will be trucking along on its goal of being a "Media Company."
Meanwhile, they will have essentially gotten away with the largest theft of intellectual property rights in history.
Now, how does Google's activities impact Hole In The Head Press?
I'm currently in the process of reprinting "To Defend and Deter" an Air Force sponsored history of the Cold War ICBMs and other missile systems. The first 10 chapters have already been reworked by my graphics and layout person.
So, I have substantial bucks invested in this project.
Google has already scanned this book.
I spent the better part of a year finding the person in the Pentagon that could approve reprinting the book. Even though it is in the public domain, my efforts resulted in getting written approval and getting the original artwork and photographs from DOD.
Of course, I don't have exclusive rights to the material, and it is in the public domain, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Google has scanned it already.
So, am I doomed?
I don't think so.
As I see it, it's my job to add value to my product and make it more attractive than the Google scanned book by updating the information, adding new photographs, and having all of the illustrations redrawn in a more artful manner.
In this way, Google will have scanned an "old" copy with out of date information.
Now, the question is - how do I keep Google from scanning my new version of this book when it comes on the market.
Given what I read, the answer is I don't really know.
Further, I find that Google has also already scanned another book that I intend to reproduce, "The Emerging Shield."
Again, I intend to hire an author to rewrite "The Emerging Shield" and combine the material with a second public domain book on the same topic to produce an entirely new product.
So, even if Google gets around to scanning both of these books, my product will be updated and very different than the two books that Google has scanned.
So, in this manner, I hope that Google's obsessive scanning, and attempts to overturn the copyright laws will have a minimal impact on my little enterprise.
I'm trying to fly under the radar, so to speak.







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