Competing Filings On Google Book Settlement

Here's a telling tally of those who officially filed by September 8th with the Court concerning the Google Book Settlement (GBS), broken down by supporters and opposition, and why.

It's interesting to note who is on each list, and who's not. And why they're on the list. Opposition includes lots of big name corporations (Amazon, Microsoft, Yahoo), entire countries (France, Germany, the United States of America), several trade associations (ie, ASMP), etc.. Notably absent are some photo/creator trade associations who have been vocal in the past against orphan works-related issues.

Of those who filed in opposition, 10 fear GBS is anti-competitive. 7 argue it hurts the user. And 23, the biggest group, feel it's bad for rights holders.

Conversely, of supporters who filed, the largest group (23) see GBS as being good for users while 4 argue it encourages competition and 1 thinks GBS is pro-rightsholder.

This informative scorecard entitled "The Google Book Settlement: Who Is Filing and What Are They Saying?" was created by The Association of Research Libraries (ARL), American Library Association (ALA), and Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), and authored by Brandon Butler, Law & Policy Fellow for ARL.

The documents:

Original ARL document The Google Book Settlement, Who Is Filing and What Are They Saying

mirrored copy of ARL Google Book Settlement Who Is Filing (in case original becomes unavailable)

Thanks are in order for Professor James Grimmelmann and his team at The Public Index and to Justia for making these filings freely available online

And, here's the History of the Google Book Settlement.

Randy Taylor