Google Book Settlement

Have the dates for the Opt-Out/Objection Deadline and Fairness Hearing changed?
Yes. On November 13, 2009, the parties filed with the federal court overseeing the Google Book Search Copyright Settlement an Amended Settlement Agreement and a motion for preliminary approval of the settlement, as amended. On November 19, 2009, the Court granted preliminary approval of the Amended Settlement. The deadline to opt out of, opt back into, or object to the Amended Settlement is January 28, 2010. If you opted out of the Original Settlement and wish to remain opted out, there is no need to opt out again. Objections to the Amended Settlement are limited to the provisions amending the settlement. Unless they are withdrawn, objections filed to the Original Settlement will be considered in connection with the Amended Settlement and should not be refiled. The final fairness hearing is now scheduled for February 18, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. in Courtroom 11A See FAQs 20 and 24.

What is the lawsuit about?
This lawsuit involves the Google Library Project. In 2004, Google announced that it had entered into agreements with several libraries to digitize books, including books protected by U.S. copyright law, in those libraries’ collections. Several authors and publishers brought this lawsuit against Google, claiming that its digitization without permission infringed their copyrights. In response to the authors’ and publishers’ claims of copyright infringement, Google argued that its digitization of the books and display of snippets, or a few lines, of the books is permitted under the U.S. copyright law’s doctrine of "fair use." Instead of resolving the legal dispute over whether Google’s digitization and display of the books is permissible under U.S. law as a "fair use," the parties negotiated a settlement.

Why are the parties settling?
After lengthy investigations by Plaintiffs and Google, more than two years of settlement negotiations, and amendments to the Original Settlement Agreement, the parties agreed to an Amended Settlement. Settlements conclude litigation without the court or a jury ruling in favor of the plaintiff or the defendant. A settlement allows the parties to avoid the cost and risk of a trial.

Who is included in this Amended Settlement? The class consists of all persons and entities that, as of January 5, 2009, own a U.S. copyright interest in one or more Books or Inserts that are "implicated by a use" authorized by the Amended Settlement. Please see FAQs 11-15 for the definitions of Books and Inserts, which have been amended by the Amended Settlement.

First, you own a "U.S. copyright interest" if you own, or have an exclusive license in, a copyright protected by United States copyright law. For example, if you are an author, you own the U.S. copyright in your Book, unless you have completely assigned all of your copyright interests to another person or entity, or unless you wrote the Book as a work for hire. You also own a U.S. copyright in a Book if you have the exclusive right to publish that Book in the United States or if you have the legal right to sue another for infringing your rights in the Book. Several persons may have U.S. copyright interests in the same Book, such as co-authors, an author and a publisher, and the heirs of an author.

Second, you own a copyright interest that is "implicated by a use" authorized by the Amended Settlement, if the right that you own is one that Google will be exploiting in using the Book. Such uses would include the reproduction or display of any content from a Book. (For example, if you own the audio or performing rights to a Book, the copyright interest is not one that is "implicated by a use" and you are not included in this Amended Settlement.)

Does this Amended Settlement cover Books published in 2009?
The Amended Settlement covers Books only if they were published on or before January 5, 2009. Books published after January 5, 2009 are not included in the Amended Settlement. Further, the Amended Settlement only covers Inserts that are contained in Books, government works or public domain books that were published on or before January 5, 2009.

Who is included in the Author Sub-Class?
The Author Sub-Class consists of members of the Class who are authors, and their heirs, successors and assigns, as well as all other members of the Class who are neither publishing companies nor their successors or assigns.

Who is included in the Publisher Sub-Class?
The Publisher Sub-Class consists of members of the Class that are Book or periodical publishing companies that own a U.S. copyright interest in an Insert or have published a Book, and their respective successors and assigns.

I own rights in a photograph or illustration in a Book. Am I included in the Amended Settlement?
It depends. Photographs, illustrations, maps, paintings and other pictorial works in Books are covered by the Amended Settlement ONLY when the U.S. copyright interest in the pictorial work is owned by a person who is also a copyright owner of the Book containing the pictorial work. For example, if a copyright owner of a Book on photography is also a copyright owner of photographs in that Book, those photographs are covered by the Settlement. However, the Amended Settlement does not cover any other photographs in the Book whose copyright is owned only by persons who are not copyright owners of the Book. Similarly, if a history Book contains a series of maps where the copyrights to those maps are owned only by persons other than a copyright owner of that history Book, those maps are not covered by the Amended Settlement.

I am not a United States citizen, or I live outside of the United States. Am I included in this Amended Settlement?

You may be. The Amended Settlement, however, has narrowed the definition of Books from the Original Settlement. As a consequence, many class members under the Original Settlement are no longer class members under the Amended Settlement.

Now, works are only included in the Amended Settlement if they were published by January 5, 2009 and either were registered with the U.S. Copyright Office by that date or their place of publication was in the United Kingdom (“UK”), Canada or Australia. A work will be considered to have a place of publication in the UK, Canada or Australia if its printed copy contains information indicating that the place of publication was in one of those two countries. Such information may include, for example, a statement that the book was “Published in [Australia] or [the UK] or [Canada],” or the location or address of the publisher in one of those three countries.

If your work meets the criteria above, then you are a member of the Amended Settlement Class regardless of where you reside and regardless of whether your work may have been published outside the UK, Canada or Australia. However, if your works were not either (a) registered with the United States Copyright Office by January 5, 2009 or (b) published in Canada, Australia or the UK by that date, you are not a member of the Amended Settlement Class, even if you were a member of the original Settlement Class.

9A. What if authors and publishers who who are not members of the Amended Settlement Class want to receive the benefits of the Amended Settlement?

Rightsholders who are not members of the Amended Settlement Class cannot be part of the Amended Settlement, but they may learn how to enter into separate arrangements directly with Google at http://books.google.com/books-partner-options.

What is the difference between this Amended Settlement and the Google Partner Program?
This Amended Settlement covers Books that are being copied by Google (primarily in libraries) without the permission of any rightsholder. Because this Amended Settlement is not yet final, no Book pages are being displayed by Google at this time under this Amended Settlement. However, Google is currently displaying preview pages from some books in Google Book Search under its Google Partner Program, which is not part of this Amended Settlement. Books in the Partner Program are displayed by Google only with the permission of one or more rightsholders of the book. However, if you believe Google is displaying pages from your book without your permission, you should contact your agent, publisher or Google directly.

What are "Books" as used in the Amended Settlement and Supplemental Notice?
For purposes of this Amended Settlement, a "Book" is a written or printed work that meets the following three conditions as of January 5, 2009:

• It was published or distributed to the public or made available for public access under the authorization of the work’s U.S. copyright owner or owners on sheets of paper bound together in hard copy form; and
• It is subject to a U.S. copyright interest (either through ownership, joint ownership, or an exclusive license) implicated by a use authorized by the Amended Settlement.
• If a “United States work,” it was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office; and
• If not a “United States work,” it was either registered with the U.S. Copyright Office or was published in Canada, the United Kingdom or Australia.

Whether a work is a "United States work" is determined by the U.S. Copyright Act. If you are unsure whether your work is a "United States work" and, therefore, whether you must have registered the work with the U.S. Copyright Office to be covered by the Amended Settlement, you may wish to consult Class Counsel.

The requirement that United States works must be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office in order to be covered by the Amanded Settlement was included in the Amended Settlement in order to comply with a decision of a U.S. court.

Are there any printed works that are excluded from the definition of "Book?"
Yes. The following items are excluded from the definition of Book:

• Periodicals, for example, newspapers, comic books, magazines or journals;
• Personal papers, for example, unpublished diaries or bundles of notes or letters;
• Sheet music and other works that are used primarily for the playing of music;
• Public domain works, meaning works that are in the public domain under U.S. copyright law; and
• Government works, meaning written works that are not subject to copyright because they are authored by the U.S. government or that are subject to equivalent treatment under any state’s law.

What are "Inserts" as used in the Amended Settlement and Supplemental Notice?
For purposes of the Amended Settlement, to be an "Insert," content must:

• Be text; or tables, charts, or graphs; and
• Be contained in a Book, government work or public domain book published on or before January 5, 2009; and
• Be protected by a U.S. copyright where the U.S. copyright interest in the Insert is held by someone other than a Rightsholder of the Book’s "Principal Work." (For example, if you own rights in a poem that is contained in a Book for which you also hold a U.S. copyright interest, then your poem, as it appears in your Book, is not an Insert; however, it would be an Insert if the poem is contained in a Book for which someone else holds the U.S. copyright interest); and
• Be registered either alone or as part of another work with the U.S. Copyright Office on or before January 5, 2009, UNLESS the Insert or that other work is not a "United States work," in which case such registration is not required.

Whether a work is a "United States work" is determined by the U.S. Copyright Act. If you are unsure whether your work is a "United States work" and, therefore, whether you must have registered the work with the U.S. Copyright Office to be covered by the settlement, you can contact Class Counsel.

The requirement that United States works must be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office in order to be covered by the Amended Settlement was included in the Amended Settlement in order to comply with a decision of a U.S. court.

What kinds of writings are considered "Inserts?"
Examples of Inserts include forewords, afterwords, prologues, epilogues, poems, quotations, letters; textual excerpts from other Books, periodicals or other works; song lyrics; or tables, charts and graphs that are not pictorial works.

Are there any works that are excluded from the definition of "Insert?"
Yes. Excluded from the definition of "Insert" are:

• Pictorial works, such as photographs, maps and paintings; musical notation; and
• Works that are in the public domain under U.S. copyright law.

What are my options under the Amended Settlement?
You can stay in the Amended Settlement. If you did not previously opt out of the Original Settlement and do not opt out of the Amended Settlement, you are "in" the Amended Settlement, and you have the following choices:

• Claim your Books and Inserts at http://www.googlebooksettlement.com;
• Claim a payment for any Books and Inserts that Google digitized on or before May 5, 2009;
• Request that one or more of your Books be removed or that one or more of your Books not be digitized;
• Exclude or include one or more of your Books in various Display Uses under the Amended Settlement;
• Exclude or include one or more of your Inserts in all Display Uses under the Amended Settlement;

If you stay in the settlement you may also object to the amended provisions of the Amended Settlement. If you objected to the Original Settlement, your objection (unless withdrawn) will be considered in connection with the Amended Settlement and should not be refiled.

You may also opt out of the Amended Settlement Class. If you opted out of the Original Settlement and wish to remain opted out, you need not opt out again. If you opted out of the Original Settlement and wish to opt back into the Amended Settlement, you may do so.

If you remain in the Amended Settlement Class, you will be bound by the Amended Settlement. If you do not claim your Books, you will not receive any Cash Payment or be able to participate in future revenue from Google’s use of your Books. By staying in the Amended Settlement, you will, however, release all copyright infringement claims you might have against Google for digitizing your Books without your permission (For further information about the claims being released under the Amended Settlement, see Question 34 below.).

What happens if I do nothing?
If you own a U.S. copyright interest in a Book or an Insert (see FAQs 11-15), you need not do anything at this time to remain in the Amended Settlement. If you complete the Claim Form, you will receive the benefits of the Amended Settlement if approved by the Court, and your claims for copyright infringement against Google and the Participating Libraries will be released and will be dismissed by the Court. If you remain in the class, you will be bound by any judgment or determination of the Court in connection with the Amended Settlement, whether favorable or unfavorable.

What do I have to do now?
If you own a U.S. copyright interest in a Book or an Insert, you need not do anything at this time to remain in the Amended Settlement.

If you want to claim a Cash Payment for Books or Inserts digitized by Google on or before May 5, 2009 without your permission, you must submit a Claim Form for those Books or Inserts by March 31, 2011 (extended from January 5, 2010).

If you wish to remain in the Amended Settlement and get the benefit of revenues earned from Google’s use of your Books, you should submit a Claim Form as soon as possible, although there is no absolute deadline for this.

What is opting out?
To opt out from the Amended Settlement is to send a written request to be removed from the Amended Settlement. If you opt out of the Amended Settlement (or opted out of the Original Settlement and do not opt back in), you will not receive any of the Amended Settlement’s benefits, and you will not be bound by any of its terms, including the release of claims against Google.

How can I opt out of the Amended Settlement if I have not already opted out of the Original Settlement?
If you opted out of the Original Settlement and wish to remain opted out, you do not need to opt out again. If you did not opt out of the Original Settlement, but now wish to opt out of the Amended Settlement,, you may opt out by:

1. Going online on or before January 28, 2010 at http://www.googlebooksettlement.com , and following the instructions to opt out; or
2. Sending written notice by First-Class Mail, postage prepaid, postmarked on or before January 28, 2010 to the Settlement Administrator, at:

   Google Book Search Settlement Administrator
   c/o Rust Consulting
   PO Box 9364
   Minneapolis, MN 55440-9364
   
   The postmark will determine the time of mailing.

You need not state your reason for opting out. However, your opt-out request must be signed or, if submitted online, completed by an authorized person; it must state which Sub-Class you wish to opt out of (either the Author Sub-Class or Publisher Sub-Class); and it must provide your name and address or, if you are an author’s agent, must provide the name of the Author Sub-Class member on whose behalf you are acting (i.e., the person whose name appears as the author of the Book or Insert) and any pseudonym used to author the Books, if applicable. To ensure that Google clearly understands which Books and/or Inserts may be implicated by a decision to opt out, members of the Publisher Sub-Class must identify all of the imprints under which they publish their Books.

Although it is not a requirement to opt out, we ask you to include in your opt out notice the title, author, publisher and ISBN (if the Book has an ISBN) of all of your Books and Inserts so that Google can identify your Books and Inserts.

What happens to the Books of authors and publishers who opt out of the Amended Settlement?
If an author or publisher opts out of the Amended Settlement, the terms of the Settlement will not apply to this author or publisher. This means that the author or publisher is retaining all rights to bring a legal action against Google, for digitizing and displaying the author’s or publisher’s books and Inserts, and against the Participating Libraries, if desired. It also means that the settlement neither authorizes Google to make certain uses of these books and Inserts nor does it prohibit Google from doing so.

By checking a box on the opt out page, however, the author or publisher can request that the Settlement Administrator ask Google not to digitize (or, if already digitized, not to display any contents from) the books or Inserts identified in the opt out form, Although Google has no obligation under the Amended Settlement to comply with such request, Google has advised the Settlement Administrator that it is Google’s current policy to voluntarily honor such requests, if the Books or Inserts are individually specified, are in copyright, and the author or publisher has a valid and unchallenged copyright interest in their Books and Inserts.

Alternatively, if, notwithstanding the decision of an author or publisher to opt out of the Amended Settlement, the author or publisher would like Google to contact them regarding Google’s use of their books or Inserts other than through the Amended Settlement, the author or publisher can check a different box on the opt out page.

Why are publishers required to list the names of imprints on the opt out form?
By providing names of imprints, the publisher is informing the Settlement Administrator that it is not authorizing Google to display Books published by those imprints. The names will be sent to Google to help Google determine for which Books the Amended Settlement may not authorize Google to make Display Uses such as Preview Uses, Institutional Subscription and Consumer Purchase.

What is an objection?
To object to a settlement is to submit a statement that you disagree with some aspect of it. Only settlement class members may object, meaning a person cannot both opt out and object at the same time. The Court considers settlement class members’ objections prior to deciding whether to approve a settlement.

How can I object to the Amended Settlement?
At this time, you may object only to the provisions of the Amended Settlement that are changed from the Original Settlement. If you objected to the Original Settlement, your objection (unless withdrawn) will be considered in connection with the Amended Settlement and should not be refiled. To object to the Amended Settlement, you must, on or before January 28, 2010, file with the Court a statement of your objection to the amended provisions of the settlement and the grounds for your objection, at the following address:

Office of the Clerk, J. Michael McMahon
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
500 Pearl Street
New York, New York 10007

You must also send a copy of your objection by email or First-Class Mail on Counsel for the Author Sub-Class, Counsel for the Publisher Sub-Class and Counsel for Google.

Can I both opt out and object?
No, you cannot both object and opt out. Only settlement class members may object to a settlement, and people who have opted out are no longer settlement class members.

What is the difference between objecting to a settlement and opting out of a settlement?
You may object to a settlement if you remain in the settlement but disagree with some aspect of the settlement. An objection allows your views to be heard in Court. In contrast, opting out means that you are no longer part of the settlement and that you do not want to be subject to the settlement’s terms and conditions. Once you opt out, you lose any right to object to the settlement, because the settlement will no longer affect you.

Can I participate in both the Partner Program and the Amended Settlement?
Yes. You can choose to participate in the Amended Settlement and its revenue models for one or more Books even if you are already a participant in the Partner Program. The Partner Program agreement, if applicable to a particular Book that is also included in the settlement, will govern Google's treatment of that Book to the extent the Partner Program offers the same uses or revenue models as the settlement and any prohibitions imposed by the Partner Program agreement on Google’s uses will apply.

What is Google Authorized to do Under the Amended Settlement?
Under the Amended Settlement, Rightsholders authorize Google, on a non-exclusive basis, to:

• Continue to digitize Books and Inserts
• Sell subscriptions to an electronic Books database to institutions;
• Sell online access to individual Books;
• Sell advertising on pages from Books;
• Display portions of Book in a "preview" format to encourage sales of online access to Books;
• Display Snippets from Books; and
• Display bibliographic information from Books.

What Benefits Are the Rightsholders Receiving from the Amended Settlement?

• 63% of Revenues Earned in Google Book Search. Google will pay Rightsholders 63% of all revenues Google receives from the commercial uses Google makes of the Books.
  
  
• Establishment of the Book Rights Registry. Google will pay $34.5 million to establish and maintain a Book Rights Registry, to locate Rightsholders and create a database of their contact information and copyright interests in Books and Inserts, and to collect revenues from Google and distribute those revenues to Rightsholders, and for notice and settlement administration costs.
  
  
• Right to Manage Books and Inserts in Google Book Search. Rightsholders will have the right to determine whether and to what extent Google may use their copyrighted writings.
  
  
• Cash Payments. Google will pay a minimum of $45 million to compensate Rightsholders whose works Google has scanned without permission as of May 5, 2009. Rightsholders of works Google has scanned without permission as of May 5, 2009 are eligible for Cash Payments, which will be at least $60 per Principal Work, $15 per Entire Insert, and $5 per Partial Insert. A "Principal Work" is the main work in a Book (that is, the part of the Book that does not include forewords, afterwards, footnotes and other material).

How are Cash Payments determined?
Only one $60 Cash Payment will be made for a Principal Work, even if it appears in more than one Book, or that both as a Book and also as an Insert in another Book (because a portion of the first Book was quoted in the second Book). Each Book contains only one Principal Work. For example, a Book of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird might contain an introduction, footnotes and an afterword. The novel itself would be that Book’s Principal Work; each of the other materials would be an Insert if the U.S. copyright interest in those other materials is held by someone other than the Rightsholder of the Principal Work. Similarly, a Book could contain several short stories from a variety of authors (such as the Best Short Stories of 2008). A collection of short stories would be the Principal Work and each individual short story would be an "Insert."

Also, only one payment will be made for each Insert no matter how many times it appears in one or more Books.

Can Rightsholders request that their works NOT be available on Google?

Books: Yes. Rightsholders of Books have two options under the Amended Settlement, removal or exclusion.

Rightsholders can request Google to remove one or more of their Books if they have already been digitized, or request Google not to digitize a Book at all. Rightsholders have the right to remove a Book as to Google by request received on or before March 9, 2012. After March 9, 2012, Google will honor "do not digitize" requests if Google has, as of the date of that request, not already digitized the Book. Rightsholders have the right to remove a Book from the Library Digital Copies of Participating Libraries and from the Research Corpus by request received on or before April 5, 2011.

Rightsholders of Books can request instead that their Books be excluded by Google. With exclusion, Rightsholders can manage which Display Uses they wish Google to make of their Books, and change these elections over time. Exclusion means that the Book will not be displayed in one or more Display Uses by Google (although the Book will not be deleted from all servers by Google or the Participating Libraries as in the case of removal).

Under the Amended Settlement, Commercially Available (generally, in-print) Books in the United States, by default, are not included in any Display Uses. Rightsholders of In-Print Books (or Commercially Available Books), however, can decide, on a Book by Book basis, to include one or more of their Books in any or all Display Uses by completing a Claim Form. For instance, one Book could be included in all Display Uses and another in only Preview Uses. Rightsholders can change these elections over time, for instance later excluding that Book from Preview Uses.

Books that are not Commercially Available (generally, out-of-print Books) in the United States, by default, are included in all Display Uses. Rightsholders of Out-of-Print Books (or Commercially Unavailable Books), however, can decide, on a Book by Book basis, to exclude their Books from any or all Display Uses, by completing a Claim Form. For instance, one Book could be excluded from all Display Uses and another could be excluded from only Snippet Use. Rightsholders can change these elections over time, for instance later including that Book in Snippet Use.

A Rightsholder of an Out-of-Print Book, however, must include the Book in the Institutional Subscription if the Rightsholder wants to make that Book available for individual consumer online access.

Once a Rightsholder receives an Inclusion Fee Payment for a Book, the Rightsholder cannot exclude the Book from the Institutional Subscription without repaying the Fee to the Registry. Inclusion Fee payments will not be made by the Registry until at least five years after the Registry first receives revenues from Google. To be eligible for an Inclusion Fee, you must claim your Book with the Registry within ten years after the Effective Date.

Inserts: Rightsholders of Inserts have the right to exclude Inserts from all – but not less than all – Display Uses. This right is limited to the Insert itself and not any other portion of the Book, government work or public domain book that contains the Insert. If you are the Rightsholder of an Insert, the Rightsholder of the Book containing that Insert and, in some cases, Google, will have the right to challenge your request to exclude the Insert from Display Uses if they believe that they have the legal or contractual right to display your Insert as part of a Book. With respect to Inserts in government works and public domain books, Google may reject your request to exclude your Insert from the government work or public domain book.

Once a Rightsholder receives an Inclusion Fee Payment for an Insert, the Rightsholder cannot exclude the Insert from the Institutional Subscription without repaying the Fee to the Registry. Inclusion Fee payments will not be made by the Registry until at least five years after the Registry first receives revenues from Google. To be eligible for an Inclusion Fee, you must claim your Insert with the Registry within ten years after the Effective Date.

What if I asked that my Book be removed and then change my mind and want my Book included?
Even if a Rightsholder removes a Book, it may be possible to contact Google subsequently to attempt to negotiate a separate deal, outside this Amended Settlement, for inclusion of the Book.

Can I request that my books be removed and still participate in the Amended Settlement?
Yes. If you want to participate in the Amended Settlement but also want your Books removed, you must fill out the Claim Form on or before April 5, 2011 to remove Books from Library Digital Copies and the Research Corpus and on or before March 9, 2012 to remove Books as to Google. Thereafter, Google will honor your request only if a Book has not been digitized as of the date of the request.

Does it matter if my Book is in-print or out-of-print?
Yes. Whether your Book is In-Print or Out-of-Print can affect what rights Google has to use the Book and whether you and/or another Rightsholder will receive revenues from uses of the Book.

The Amended Settlement Agreement uses the term Commercially Available, which generally means that a Book is in-print. If a Book is not Commercially Available, that means, in general, that it is Out-of-Print. Google is authorized to make Display Uses and Non-Display Uses of each Book that is not Commercially Available for the term of the U.S. copyright for that Book UNLESS the Rightsholder directs Google not to do so or directs Google to remove the Book. See FAQ35. In contrast, there is no deadline to request exclusion as opposed to removal.

Google may not make any Display Uses of any Commercially Available Book UNLESS the Rightsholder of the Book authorizes Google to include the Book in such uses. If a Rightsholder authorizes Display Uses, he or she will be entitled to the settlement benefits for that Book. However, a Rightsholder may be able to negotiate different terms with Google separately from this settlement. Google may make Non-Display Uses of an In-Print Book for the term of the U.S. Copyright for that Book UNLESS the Rightsholder timely removes the Book.

The terms "in-print" and "out-of-print" also have specific meanings under the Author-Publisher Procedures, which are set forth in Attachment A of the Amended Settlement.

What are the Display Uses?
Display Uses include Access Uses, Preview Uses, Snippet Displays, and Display of Bibliographic Pages.

• Access Uses include viewing and annotating the entire Book, and printing and copying and pasting portions of the Book, subject to page number limitations. The uses include institutional subscriptions, consumer purchase of online access, public access at libraries and elsewhere.
• Preview Uses allow a searcher to view up to 20% of a book before making a purchase decision, but will not allow a searcher to copy and paste, annotate or print any pages from the Book. Preview uses are designed to serve as a marketing tool to sell the Book.
• Snippet Displays allow a search to view three or four lines of text from a Book, with up to three snippet uses per user for the Book.
• Display of Bibliographic Pages means that users can see the Book’s title page, copyright page, table of contents and index.

What are the Non-Display Uses?
Non-Display Uses are uses that do not involve displaying any content from a Book to the public. Examples include display of bibliographic information (but not displaying Book pages themselves), full-text indexing without displaying the text; geographic indexing of Books; algorithmic listings of key terms for chapters of Books; and internal research and development at Google.

Are there any benefits for the general public?
Yes. If the Amended Settlement is approved, United States users will be able to search, preview and buy millions of Out-of-Print books that cannot be found in most bookstores and libraries. In addition, each public library building will have a terminal at which users can search for, read and, if the library is able, print out pages from Books in the Google database.

Are Google’s rights under the Amended Settlement Agreement exclusive or non-exclusive?
Rights granted to Google and the Participating Libraries are non-exclusive only, and Rightsholders have every right to authorize, through the Registry or otherwise, any individual or entity, including direct competitors of Google, to use their works in any way, including ways identical to Google’s and the Participating Libraries’ authorized uses. Rights and authorizations granted to Google and the Participating Libraries are not transfers of copyright ownership to those works, and nothing in the Amended Settlement Agreement shall operate to transfer any copyright ownership interests in Rightsholders’ works.

When should the publisher of a Commercially Available (in-print) book inform an author about the publisher’s display use elections for the book?
Under the Author Publisher Procedures, which are Attachment A to the Amended Settlement Agreement, in-print Books will only be displayed if both the publisher and the author of the Book authorize such display. Under those Procedures, the publisher must first inform the author of any display uses it wishes to authorize and the author has 30 days to state if he or she disagrees with the publisher’s wishes. In the case of such a disagreement, the only display uses permitted will be those authorized by both the publisher and the author.

Because the Amended Settlement will only become effective if and when it is finally approved by the Court, we will post on this website the Effective Date when it is known and also a date by which publishers should inform authors of elections made for in-print Books. Nothing prevents a publisher from informing its authors of such elections now and authors from responding. However, once the Effective Date is known, publishers will be informed of the official date for them to first notify authors of their elections, which date will begin the 30 day period for authors to respond.

What am I giving up if I stay in the Amended Settlement?
If you choose to stay in the Amended Settlement, you give up your right to sue Google and each Participating Library ever again for any claims related to those at issue in this Amended Settlement. For further information, please read the complete release, contained in Article X of the Amended Settlement Agreement.

By way of a general summary, if you stay in the Amended Settlement, you will be releasing the following claims you might otherwise have had:

• Claims against Google for having digitized your Books and Inserts
• Claims against Google for using your Books and Inserts in Google’s products and services
• Claims against libraries for having provided Books and Inserts for digitization
• Claims against Google for having provided digital copies of Books and Inserts to libraries
• Claims against Google and the libraries that arise after the "Effective Date" of the Amended Settlement if and to the extent that their acts are authorized by the Amended Settlement

If you still have questions about what claims you are releasing, you should contact Class Counsel.

What is the Book Rights Registry?
The Registry will be a not-for-profit entity that represents the interests of Rightsholders in connection with this Amended Settlement with Google as well as potential licensing deals with other entities, subject to Rightsholders’ authorization. The Registry will have equal representation of the Author Sub-Class and Publisher Sub-Class on its Board of Directors, and will include at least one author and publisher representative from each of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. The Registry will also delegate to an independent fiduciary responsibility for the exploitation of unclaimed Books and Inserts under the settlement.

How will the Registry be funded?
To fund the establishment and initial operations of the Registry, and to pay for the costs of the Class Notice Program and claims administration costs, Google agreed to pay US $34.5 million, of which Google has already paid $12 million. On an ongoing basis, the Registry will be funded by taking an administrative fee as a percentage of revenues received from Google.

What will the Registry do?
The Registry will:

• Represent the interests of the Rightsholders in connection with the Amended Settlement;
• Establish and maintain a database of contact information for authors and publishers;
• Use commercially reasonable efforts to locate Rightsholders;
• Distribute payments received from Google for the Rightsholders’ share of revenues; and
• Assist in the resolution of disputes between Rightsholders.

How can I file a claim?
In order to claim your Books and Inserts, so that you can manage them, receive a Cash Payment and participate in future revenues, you need to complete the Claim Form at http://www.googlebooksettlement.com. If you do not have access to a computer, we can mail you a paper Claim Form. We encourage you to complete the Claim Form online if you are able to do so.

You can complete the Claim Form at any time, but there are deadlines to claim certain benefits. To claim a Cash Payment for Books that Google digitized by May 5, 2009, you must complete the Claim Form on or before March 31, 2011 (extended from January 5, 2010). To remove your Book, you must complete the Claim Form by the deadlines set out in FAQ 35.

To receive all of the revenues Google earns from use of your Books, you must complete the Claim Form within ten years after the first use is made of your Books. To receive Inclusion Fees for your Books and Inserts, you must complete the Claim Form within ten years after the Effective Date of the Settlement. The website will advise you when that date takes place. We encourage you to complete the Claim Form within the next few months, to ensure that you will receive the maximum benefits owed to you under the Amended Settlement.

When will payments be sent?
It will take considerable time to implement the commercial uses authorized under the Amended Settlement, implement the elections made by Rightsholders for their Books and Inserts, and make Cash Payments. The commercial uses and other settlement benefits described in this Notice will not occur until after the Effective Date, and further time will be required in order to establish the Registry and clear rights so that the appropriate Rightsholders receive their due and owing benefits. Please be patient, and visit the Settlement Website at http://www.googlebooksettlement.com regularly for updates.

What is the Effective Date?
The Effective Date is the date when the Amended Settlement has been finally approved by the Court and is no longer subject to any appeal. If and when it occurs, the Effective Date will be posted on the website. The Effective Date will not be earlier than March 2010.

Why do I have to claim my Books/Inserts?
If you claim your works, the Registry will be able to pay you for their use, and you will be able to remove or exclude your Books and Inserts from some or all of the Display Uses. If you do not claim your Books/Inserts, the Registry will not be able to locate you to distribute revenues and fees to you. "Claiming" means that you are asserting that you have a U.S. copyright interest in a Book or Insert.

If I claim a Book or Insert, can I ask to have it excluded?
Yes.

Does the Registry provide a way for class members to know if their Books have already been digitized in a US library?
Yes. Once you have claimed your Books, a details page on the website for each claimed Book will inform you whether that Book was digitized by May 5, 2009. In addition, when you download search results in a spreadsheet form from the website or download a spreadsheet of Books that you have claimed, digitization status information will be displayed. Books digitized on or before May 5, 2009 are eligible for Cash Payments. Books digitized after May 5, 2009 are not eligible for a Cash Payment. Note that digitization status is only relevant for eligibility for a Cash Payment. The Amended Settlement gives Google permission to digitize your Books, unless you claim and Remove them.

If a Book or Insert is claimed, will the heirs of the author automatically receive the payments after the Rightsholder dies?
Yes, assuming that the heirs of the author are the Rightsholders (that is, hold the U.S. copyright interest in the author’s Book), and if the heirs claim with the Registry (so that the Registry knows to whom to send payments).

Do I need to name heirs when I claim?
No, it will not be necessary to name heirs when you claim your Books and Inserts.

Can I receive a Cash Payment and still remove my Books or exclude my Books and Inserts?
Yes, if your Books or Inserts were digitized on or before May 5, 2009 without your permission, you are eligible for a Cash Payment and you may still remove your Books and exclude your Books and Inserts. Keep in mind that the deadline to claim Cash Payments is March 31, 2011 (extended from January 5, 2010), and the deadlines to remove Books are set out in FAQ 35. Otherwise, there is no deadline to file a claim for Books and Inserts, and no deadline for excluding Books and Inserts or for otherwise taking advantage of any of the benefits of the Amended Settlement.

Does the website database include works not covered by the settlement?
Yes. The database was created by Google, based on information from data providers, to assist class members in the claiming process. It lists works that are likely to be "Books" within the meaning of the settlement. However, not every work listed in the database is a "Book" as defined by the Amended Settlement (see Question 10 above). For instance, if a work in the database is a scholarly journal, or if it is a book that was published after January 5, 2009, it is not a "Book" covered by the settlement. The certification page in the claim form lists the requirements each work must meet for it to be included in the settlement as a "Book".

Have all the "Books" listed in the database already been digitized by Google?
No. The database includes "Books" that were digitized by Google by May 5, 2009 (and are therefore eligible for a Cash Payment). However, most of the works listed in the database have not yet been digitized by Google; it is also possible that some "Books" in the database will never be digitized by Google. Unless you opt out of the settlement, you are giving Google permission to digitize your "Books" in the future and, if they are digitized, to use your "Books" in accordance with the Amended Settlement.

Why has the digitization status of some books been updated?
Google has updated the website to reflect all Books that were actually digitized on or before May 5, 2009 without permission. Google ended up digitizing more Books by this date than it had originally anticipated and also is correcting some entries for Books that were inadvertently listed as not digitized when they in fact were digitized.

May translators file claims?
Yes. A translator who has a United States copyright interest in a Book that is his or her translation of another Book may file a claim for the translation as a member of the Author Sub-Class. The division of revenues earned under the Amended Settlement between members of the Author Sub-Class (including translators and authors) will be determined by the contracts for each translation and the Author-Publisher Procedures. The division of revenues between members of the Author Sub-Class and members of the Publisher Sub-Class will be determined by the Author-Publisher Procedures and the Plan of Allocation, which are attachments to the Amended Settlement Agreement available on this website.

My content appears to have been submitted to the Google Books Partner Program by my publisher, and it looks like nearly the whole book is being displayed. Please explain this.
Google has entered into agreements with thousands of Publishers (and many authors as well) to display portions of books through Google’s Partner Program. The Partner Program is not a part of this settlement, and you should visit the Partner Program's help center for more information. In the meantime, Google has advised the Settlement Administrator that when users look at a book, they can view portions of the book until reaching the limit set by the partner (usually 20% of the pages of the book, although a small number of partners have authorized 100% of the book to be displayed). As a security precaution, some pages may be blocked and not shown. When one scrolls through the pages of a book in the Partner Program, it may appear that almost all of the pages are on display, but this in fact is not the case. Once a user has reached the viewing limit, the remaining pages are not viewable to that user and are not loaded onto the screen. Nevertheless, if you are an author and you do not want your book displayed at all in the Partner Program, then you should contact your publisher.

Can Authors and Publishers distribute their works under the settlement for free, under a Creative Commons license or otherwise?
Yes. Rightsholders are free to set any price for their work including the ability to distribute their work free of charge. If you are interested in distributing your work for free, including under a Creative Commons license, then you should claim your Book on the Claim Form and, on the “Manage Your Books” page, fill in the box asking you to specify your sale price for the book at “zero.” In the future, the Claim Form will also provide an option for you to offer your Book under a Creative Commons license, and you should check the Claim Form periodically for that option to appear. The Registry will inform Google of your request, and Google will include information on its web site so that end users are aware of the licensing terms chosen by you. Rightsholders are also free to authorize Google directly to distribute their book through a Creative Commons license. To learn more about Creative Commons licenses, click here.

What are "Participating Libraries?"
"Participating Libraries" are libraries participating in the Amended Settlement. The Amended Settlement Agreement identifies several categories of Participating Libraries based on their level of participation in the Amended Settlement: Fully Participating Libraries, Cooperating Libraries, Public Domain Libraries and Other Libraries.

What are "Fully Participating Libraries?"
Fully Participating Libraries are libraries that are allowing Google to digitize Books in their collections and to which Google is providing a Library Digital Copy of those Books. The Amended Settlement Agreement provides that Fully Participating Libraries will be able to make certain uses of their Library Digital Copies. Fully Participating Libraries will be obligated to take strict security measures to prevent misuse of their Library Digital Copy and to prevent unauthorized access. To include as many Books as possible in the Google Library Project, Google will attempt to expand the list of Participating Libraries.

What can Fully Participating Libraries do with their Library Digital Copy of a Book?

• They can make copies to preserve and keep current a Library Digital Copy;
• They can provide access to Library Digital Copies of Books to users who have disabilities that make them unable to use printed versions of Books;
• They can create a print replacement copy of a Book that is damaged, deteriorating, lost or stolen;
• They can use indexes and finding tools, and display snippets in connection with finding tools (unless the Rightsholder of a No Display Book excludes this use);
• They can permit faculty and staff to use up to five pages of a Book that is not Commercially Available for personal scholarly use and for classroom use;
• They can use them for research in which computational analysis is performed on one or more Books, research in which a researcher does not read or display substantial portions of Book to understand the intellectual content presented; and
• They can use Library Digital Copies for other lawful uses that a Rightsholder or the Registry approves.

What are "Cooperating Libraries?"
A Cooperating Library receives the same participatory rights and obligations under the Amended Settlement Agreement as a Fully Participating Library, except that it does not receive or have access to a Library Digital Copy, and it agrees to delete any digital copies of Books that it received or in the future receives from Google.

What is a "Public Domain Library?"
A Public Doman Library agrees to provide only public domain books to Google for digitization, agrees to delete any digital copies of Books that it received or in the future receives from Google, and does not receive or have access to a Library Digital Copy.

What is an "Other Library?"
Other Libraries agree to provide Books to Google, but do not agree to become a Fully Participating Library, a Cooperating Library or a Public Domain Library. Some of these libraries may have received digital copies of Books from Google. No claims are released with respect to any uses of digital copies by these Other Libraries.

How can a library become a Fully Participating or Cooperating Library?
Google will notify the Registry of any library that wants to become a Fully Participating Library or a Cooperating Library. The Registry has approval rights as to whether a library may become a Fully Participating Library or a Cooperating Library. A library will need to sign a Library-Registry Agreement to become a Fully Participating or Cooperating Library.

What is the Research Corpus?
The Research Corpus is a set of all Library Digital Copies of Books made in connection with the Google Library Project, other than Digital Copies of Books that have been removed or withdrawn by Rightsholders. Google provides these Digital Copies to Host Sites.

How many Host Sites are there for the Research Corpus?
There may be two separate sites at any given time. Google could become a third Host Site.

Who can use the Research Corpus?
The Research Corpus will be made available to "Qualified Users" solely for engaging in specific types of research, including:

• Computational analysis of the digitized images to either improve the image or extracting textual or structural information from the image;
• Extracting information to understand or develop relationships among or within Books;
• Linguistic analysis, to better understand language, linguistic use, semantics and syntax as they evolve over time and across genres of Books;
• Automated translation (without actually producing translations of Books for display purposes); and
• Developing new indexing and search techniques.

Who are "Qualified Users?"
A Qualified User is a person who is engaged in specific types of research, including:

• Computational analysis of the digitized images to either improve the image or extracting textual or structural information from the image;
• Extracting information to understand or develop relationships among or within Books;
• Linguistic analysis, to better understand language, linguistic use, semantics and syntax as they evolve over time and across genres of Books;
• Automated translation (without actually producing translations of Books for display purposes); and
• Developing new indexing and search techniques

The person to whom the Notice was sent is deceased. What should I do?
Determine the Rightsholder of the work. If the Rightsholder is an heir – because the author left his/her copyright interest to the heir in his/her will – then the heir should file a claim with the Registry.

The organization to which the Notice was sent has gone out of business or was dissolved. What should I do?
Determine the Rightsholder of the work. If a person or company has acquired the assets of the organization that has gone out of business or dissolved, then that person or company is the new Rightsholder, and should claim his, her or its interest with the Registry.

The Amended Settlement Class member listed is incapable of acting on his/her own behalf. I have Power of Attorney. What should I do?
If you are the representative authorized to handle the Amended Settlement Class member’s affairs, you should provide the Settlement Administrator with documentation sufficient to demonstrate that authority, such as a Power of Attorney instrument, along with the completed Claim Form. The Claim Form may be completed online at http://www.googlebooksettlement.com or mailed to us at

If you are an author’s agent, you may, on behalf of your authors, submit the online Claim Form for agents.

Will my benefits be taxable?
We cannot provide you with any information regarding potential tax consequences of any benefits you might receive under this Amended Settlement. You should consult your own tax advisor if you have any questions. If you are a non-United States person, Cash Payments and other revenues may be subject to United States tax withholding requirements.

Do I need to hire an attorney?
No, you do not need to hire your own attorney, but if you want your own attorney to speak for you or appear in Court, you must file a Notice of Intent to Appear.

I want advice about what to do. Can I contact the attorneys for the Class?
Yes, you may contact counsel for the Author Sub-Class at bookclaims@bonizack.com or counsel for the Publisher Sub-Class at bookclaims@debevoise.com. Class Counsel’s mailing addresses are listed in the question below.

Who are the attorneys for the Class?

Do I need to pay the attorneys for the Class?
No, you do not need to pay any of the fees or expenses for Class Counsel. Class Counsel will apply to the Court for an award. Any fees and expenses awarded to Class Counsel by the Court will be paid by Google.

How much will Class Counsel be paid?
Counsel for the Author Sub-Class will request that the Court award their attorneys’ fees and expenses, not to exceed $30 million. Subject to Court approval, Google will pay those attorneys’ fees and expenses in addition to the amounts it has agreed to pay to the Amended Settlement Class. Counsel for the Publisher Sub-Class have agreed not to seek attorneys’ fees or reimbursement of expenses from the class action settlement funds. Counsel for the Publisher Sub-Class will be paid from a separate settlement between Google and the publishers in a related case.

Who are the attorneys for Google?
The attorneys for Google are Daralyn J. Durie and Joseph C. Gratz of the law firm Durie Tangri LLP at 332 Pine Street, Suite 200, San Francisco, CA 94104, bookclaims@durietangri.com.

What is the Fairness Hearing?
The Court will hold a Fairness Hearing to consider whether the Amended Settlement is fair, adequate and reasonable. At the Fairness Hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the Amended Settlement and the motion for attorneys’ fees and expenses. If comments or objections have been received, the Court will consider them at this time.

Where/when is the Fairness Hearing?
The Court will hold the Fairness Hearing on February 18, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. in Courtroom 11A of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, United States Courthouse, located at 500 Pearl Street, New York, New York 10007.

Do I have to attend the Fairness Hearing?
No, attendance is not required, even if you properly mailed an objection. Class Counsel will answer the Court’s questions. If you want to attend the Fairness Hearing, you may do so at your own expense.

May I speak at/object at the Fairness Hearing?
Yes, you may speak at the Fairness Hearing or hire your own lawyer to speak on your behalf. If you want to do so, you must give notice of your or your attorney’s intent to do so in a filing with the Court on or before February 4, 2010. Copies of your objection and notice of intent must also be sent to Counsel for the Author Sub-Class, Counsel for the Publisher Sub-Class and Counsel for Google.

Will the Amended Settlement programs protect user privacy rights?
The plaintiff authors and publishers care deeply about readers’ privacy rights. We all agree that the programs made possible by the settlement must protect user privacy. Google is presently designing the programs that will be offered under the settlement (i.e., institutional subscriptions, consumer book uses, public access uses, etc.), none of which may be implemented until after the Effective Date of the settlement. Google has committed to work with representatives of the library community and privacy rights groups to implement appropriate user privacy protections for those programs. For information regarding Google’s commitment to user privacy protections in connection with the Google Book Search program, go to http://booksearch.blogspot.com/2009/07/google-books-settlement-and-privacy.html.

Is there a way for me to confirm whether my Book or Insert was registered with the United States Copyright Office?
You may confirm whether your Book or Insert was registered by searching the U.S. Copyright Office Catalog of Copyright Entries, which is the U.S. Copyright Office's publication of copyright registrations and renewals, organized into categories of works. For books registered from January 1, 1978 to the present, the Copyright Office maintains a searchable database that can be searched online at http://www.copyright.gov/records.

For books registered before 1978, the Catalog of Copyright Entries is not available online through the Copyright Office’s website. Copies of the Catalog of Copyright Entries can be searched manually by going to the Copyright Office located in the Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington, DC 20559-6000, and at a number of different libraries throughout the U.S., including Stanford, University of Michigan and University of California.

In addition, Google has scanned the volumes that comprise the Catalog of Copyright Entries for books registered from 1923 until 1978. You can search this Catalog online using Google Book Search. Please use these instructions for searching Google’s online scans of the Catalog.

In determining the registration status of your work, you may want to check both the Copyright Office’s online database and Google’s searchable scans.

How can I get more information?
More details are in the Amended Settlement Agreement, its attachments and other legal documents that have been filed with the Court in this lawsuit. You may look at and copy these legal documents at any time at http://www.googlebooksettlement.com. You may also see these documents if you are in New York, during regular office hours at the Office of the Clerk, J. Michael McMahon, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 500 Pearl Street, New York, New York 10007.

You can also visit the websites for the Authors Guild at www.authorsguild.org or the Association of American Publishers at www.publishers.org for information about the Amended Settlement.