Is the Google Books Settlement a Scam?

For those not in the know, Google Books is a massive effort to digitize every book in the English language; a clever idea that got caught up in the complexities of copyright law and caused a several year dispute between Google and the big publishers. Unfortunately, now it looks like Google and the publishers are colluding to make sure that the profits go to them, and not to authors or small publishers. As the settlement agreement itself says in soothingly prosaic language:

1. What is the lawsuit about?
   This lawsuit involves the Google Library Project. In 2004, Google announced that it had entered into agreements with several libraries to digitize books, including books protected by U.S. copyright law, in those libraries’ collections. Several authors and publishers brought this lawsuit against Google, claiming that its digitization without permission infringed their copyrights. In response to the authors’ and publishers’ claims of copyright infringement, Google argued that its digitization of the books and display of snippets, or a few lines, of the books is permitted under the U.S. copyright law’s doctrine of "fair use." Instead of resolving the legal dispute over whether Google’s digitization and display of the books is permissible under U.S. law as a "fair use," the parties negotiated a settlement.

2. Why are the parties settling?
   After lengthy investigations by Plaintiffs and Google and after more than two years of settlement negotiations, the parties agreed to this Settlement. Settlements conclude litigation without the court or a jury ruling in favor of the plaintiff or the defendant. A settlement allows the parties to avoid the cost and risk of a trial.

First, see generic info about the settlement here, including the entire 385 page agreement.

Then check out this dynamite deconstruction by Lynn Chu, one of the top literary agents in New York (and an author herself).

Part 1: http://www.writersreps.com/feature.aspx?FeatureID=156
Part 2: http://www.writersreps.com/feature.aspx?FeatureID=157

Thanks to my friend and colleague Andrew Hazlett for the heads up on this.