A Manhattan court case about digitisation rights has brought books and the web a step closer togetherOn 14 November, after eight years of wrangling, Judge Denny Chin of the Manhattan district court finally ruled in the case of Google versus the Authors Guild. At issue was Google's scanning and digitisation of more than 20m books from libraries across the world, but at the heart of the case was question of what constitutes fair use in the age of the internet.For the Authors Guild, it was unquestioningly a violation of publishers' and authors' rights to copy their work wholesale and make "snippets" of it available online. For Google, and for many scholars and librarians who petitioned on its behalf, the indexing of those works is transformative, and adds to, rather than reduces, their value. After much deliberation, the courts have come to agree with the latter – it is, after all, what search engines have been doing to the web since it originated.There is a point at which we come to assume that a text is first and foremost digital. We've already passed that point for much of the media around us, understanding that even the letters we receive in the post are printed from digital "originals". Newspapers currently inhabit a mid-point: we're still unsure whether the printed or the website edition is the "true" version.That point is fast approaching for the book, and we are choosing the form that it will take. Essentially, the book is becoming more like the web, opened up to... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2013-11-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Trying to stick it to Google is an understandable impulse, a resentment fed by the company's monolithic influence over the web. But all the Google News shutdown in Spain really shows is how powerless traditional publishers really are. The post The Google News Shutdown in Spain Is An Empty... Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2014-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Web publishers for 15 years have struggled with getting readers to pay for content they are accustomed to acquiring for free. Pay walls have been built and dismantled, print-and-digital packages have launched and often failed, but Google's going to see if viewers are happy to throw coins into... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2014-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mary Rasenberger, a lawyer and six-year Copyright Office and Library of Congress veteran, will take over as executive director of the Authors Guild on November 3. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The literary body, representing 9,000 authors, is calling on the US government to launch a competition investigation into Amazon, following the long-running dispute between the internet retailer and publisher HachetteAmericas Authors Guild has met with the US department of justice to call for an... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a message circulated to members, and shared with the public, the Authors Guild today confirmed that it hosted a meeting on August 1 between a group of authors and the Department of Justice, in an effort draw antitrust scrutiny of Amazon's practices. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The tussle between Amazon and the publishing conglomerate has been raging since spring. Heres an update on the fightA corporate boxing match broke from the ring and swelled into all-out rumpus last weekend, as readers and authors took sides in Amazon and Hachettes fight over the publishing... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-08-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Some 'old guard' authors are joining forces in a letter criticizing Amazon, even as a cluster of self-published authors is rallying around Amazon, charging that traditional publishers like Hachette mistreat authors and readers. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-07-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Some 'old guard' authors are joining forces in a letter criticizing Amazon, even as a cluster of self-published authors is rallying around Amazon, charging that traditional publishers like Hachette mistreat authors and readers. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-07-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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More than a thousand readers have signed a petition in support of Amazon in its dispute with Hachette. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Authors Guild released a statement in response to the Second Circuit's affirmation of Judge Harold Baer's October 2012 decision in the Authors Guild v. HathiTrust. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In testimony delivered before a House subcommittee, AG counsel Jan Constantine recapped the AG’s long running copyright dispute with Google and offered one possible solution—a collective licensing agreement for digital presentation rights to out-of-print books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Follow Your Fantasy promises fresh spin on the genre pioneered in rather less risqué stories in the 1980sA threesome, sex with a stranger or work on a porn film: the choice will be yours, as HarperCollins prepares to launch an erotic version of the Choose Your Own Adventure books which were... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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For anyone struggling with choosing the perfect literary present this holiday season, there’s a large, vocal, and opinionated group that just might be able to help: the more than one million subscribers to the Books category on Reddit, the popular social media Web site. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-12-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google's Books project, which has indexed millions of titles and made them available online, hasn't always been on completely solid legal footing. After all, Books operates without the permission of authors, which has understandably drawn some ire from copyright holders, not to mention other web ... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google+ is a great social media service for people to interact with friends and strangers alike. However, much like fellow social media sites Facebook and Twitter, it also serves as a great tool for bloggers and writers. Yesterday, Google announced that it is bolstering its social media service... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2013-09-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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China's Douban is experimenting with crowdsourced translations of English literature, including SF and short stories by David Mitchell. Can it help authors enter the market? Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-08-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pope Who? White smoke over the Vatican doesn't stand a chance as a trending topic next to the black cloud over one of Google's most beloved products. Google Reader has landed on the company's sunset list, and will wink out of existence on July 1. Problem is, Reader is not as widely beloved as... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google and French publishers and authors have officially ended six years of legal wrangles with... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google Inc.'s effort to digitize the world's books inched forward Monday, as the search giant said it had struck deals with French authors and publishers that end six years of litigation and open the way to sell out-of-print French books online. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2012-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google has struck a deal with two French organizations representing authors and book publishers, ending years of litigation. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2012-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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