What does the settlement provide?
If granted final approval, the Settlement will authorize Google to continue to scan in-copyright Books and Inserts; to develop an electronic Books database; to sell subscriptions to the Books database to schools, corporations and other institutions; to sell individual Books to consumers; and to place advertisements next to pages of Books. Google will pay Rightsholders, through a Book Rights Registry (“Registry”), 63% of all revenues earned from these uses, and the Registry will distribute those revenues to the Rightsholders of the Books and Inserts who register with the Registry. Distribution will be made pursuant to an Author-Publisher Agreement and a Plan of Allocation, which are part of the Settlement Agreement.
The Settlement also will authorize Google to provide public and higher education libraries with free access to the Books database. Certain libraries that are providing Books to Google for scanning are authorized to make limited "non-display uses" of the Books. Those uses are described in the Notice and the Settlement Agreement.
Rightsholders will have the ability to direct Google not to make various “display uses” of their Books and Inserts. Those display uses are described in the proposed Notice and the Settlement Agreement. Rightsholders of in-print Books will have to notify the Registry if they want Google to make their Books available for any or all of the display uses. Out-of-print Books will automatically be included in all display uses unless the Rightsholder(s) of the Book directs Google not to do so.
Google will pay $34.5 million to establish the Registry and for other costs of administering the Settlement. The Registry will, among other things, locate authors, publishers and other Rightsholders and distribute to Rightsholders the revenues from Google's uses.
Google will also pay at least $45 million to resolve existing claims of Rightsholders for Books and Inserts that Google scanned without permission as of May 5, 2009, which is the date by which class members must notify the parties if they wish to opt out of the Settlement (the "Opt-Out Deadline"). Rightsholders will be able to file claims to receive cash payments, but must do so on or before January 5, 2010.
The proposed Notice and Settlement Agreement explain in detail all of the terms of the proposed Settlement, including how the subscriptions and Books will be priced and how revenues from the sales of subscriptions and Books, and from advertising, will be allocated to Rightsholders.