Re: Google agrees to opt-in - in France

joseph harris wrote:
> Google has conceded the most important point: that authors and
> publishers *opt in* to scanning.

After much careful reading, I would tweak this ever so slightly - that
authors and publishers opt in to indexing, preview, or sales, but not to
scanning. Everything I've read strongly indicates that publishers and
authors hold control over any presentation or sale of the work, but
nothing I've read expressly indicates that Google needs opt-in permissions
to scan and digitize the work. I'm open to references that clearly state
otherwise, but I've tried to find exactly that, with no results.

To some, this might be a difference that is no difference - that if Google
wants to spend its money scanning books it can never show to the public or
sell, they can go at it.

But I see this as being a huge difference down the road, especially as
Google can potentially offer to authors the chance to have sales of their
work starting returning money to the author tomorrow - all the author has
to do is flip the switch. If the author wants to work with their
publisher, or Amazon, or any other ebook channel, then someone else,
somewhere else, first has to create that digital work. That is going to
take time and effort, whereas Google may be able to offer that as a fait
accompli.

Heck - if I was Google, I'd sweeten the pot with a small "opt-in bonus". A
hundred dollars is going to seem notable for a work that is likely to be
currently out of print. Then make that a declining option - ten bucks less
per week.

Authors - contrary to some views - are still human, and humans commonly
react with a "yes" when offered the chance for short term gratification.

: chris smith ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
: nihil tam munitum quod non expugnari pecunia possit - cicero :



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