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Google Co-Founder Defends Google Books Deal

Brin addresses concerns over settlement

By Jon Hood
ConsumerAffairs.com

October 10, 2009

Sergey Brin opened with a quote about electric cars from a book written in 1916. Books published before 1923, he pointed out, are in the public domain and thus exempt from copyright restrictions.

Brin lamented, however, that books written after 1923 “quickly disappear into a literary black hole,” only available to readers during the time they are being printed. After that, most books – excepting those on the bestseller list or written by well-known authors – are discoverable only in libraries or thrift shops, and bookworms often come up short even after diligently scouring those locations.

The settlement of a lawsuit against Google Books has recently come under scrutiny, with critics contending that the terms construct a veritable monopoly for the search giant. John M. Simpson of non-profit Consumer Watchdog said in House testimony that the agreement settlement agreement “would strip rights from millions of absent class members, worldwide, in violation of national and international copyright law, for the sole benefit of Google.”

Orphan books

Questions have also arisen over Google's motives for storing so-called orphan books without receiving permission upfront. These works, which are no longer in print but remain protected by a valid copyright, are presumably those to which Brin refers in his op-ed piece.

Copyright officials say the orphan provision – which allows Google to store such books and then remove them later if asked by the copyright holder – puts competitors at a decided disadvantage. Amazon, which receives permission prior to posting any orphaned works, has objected to the settlement, with CEO Paul Misener saying it would allow Google to become “the only store in town.”

Brin disagrees, asserting that the settlement does nothing to prevent or discourage other companies from establishing their own digital library. Indeed, Brin says that a successful Google Books will spur similar services, which will only increase consumer choice.

Opt out

Brin also addressed another major concern: that authors and publishers who fail to opt-out of the settlement will lose their ability to have a say in whether their work is part of Google's database.

Brin said that copyright holders can come forward at any time to limit access to their work or dictate fees and charges, even if they don't speak up until after the opt-out date has passed. If an author doesn't come forward, Google sets access and fees according to a default model. Brin also said that the majority of profits generated by the system will go back to the original authors and publishers.

One concern that Brin barely addresses, however, is that of consumer privacy. The privacy proposal included in the settlement promises not to release user information to third parties “except under very limited and narrow circumstances.”

This promise might sound comforting, but the amorphous language leaves Google a lot of wiggle room in its implementation. Indeed, Johnson, of Consumer Watchdog, said that the company's answer to privacy critics “boils down to: Trust us. Our motto is ‘Don’t be evil.’” Brin does little to further soothe privacy advocates' fears; his op-ed addresses the issue almost as an afterthought, and optimistically predicts that, “if we don’t get our product right, then others will.”

Brin says that Larry Page, Google's other co-founder, proposed digitizing books as far back as 1999. The idea came to fruition as Google Print in 2004, and now involves a database of over 10 million books.

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