Take the PW Survey - Listen to the Google Book Settlement & Webinar

Yes, it's the Google Book Settlement again.

With a September 4th deadline looming to opt out of or object to the Google Book Search Settlement, Publishers Weekly is conducting a survey designed to gather a broad view of how the Settlement is being viewed.

Could you to take a few minutes to answer this brief, targeted questionnaire? PW wants to gauge industry opinion. Note that you don't have to have standing in the suit to participate in the survey. It should take just a few minutes.

Of course, some of us who feel strongly about the compelling need for this settlement to go through in order to ensure authors and publishers are offered some protection and ensure copyright is respected may take longer filling it out!

As I said in a previous post, while the settlement is not perfect, it's an important first step. It literally took years, and involved a group of very smart, committed representatives for authors, publishers and a global search engine. I don't see anyone raising their hand to do better.

Without the settlement, we remain in a lawless frontier, and the implications would be devastating for copyright in the digital arena. There are a lot of people who can benefit from a state of anarchy, but it's time for content creators and those that value content to draw a line in the sand.

Please click here when you are ready to take the survey. (if necessary, the address to cut and paste is: www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB229EB66ZEQ5)

Results of the survey will be shared in the August 24th issue of PW. If you have questions or comments about the survey, please contact Laura Girmscheid, PW Research Manager at lgirmscheid@reedbusiness.com.

If you'd like to learn more about the settlement, you can check out the information on the Author's Guild and the Association of American Publisher's websites. But there's also a recent Webinar hosted by Publisher's Weekly you can access. Go to www.PublishersWeekly.com, click on "Tools" to the far right of the top navibar, then Webcasts and register for the webcast:
Google Library Project Settlement: What It Means for Publishers (or just click on the link!).

You will be able to access the webcast archive for one year following the initial webcast.

Description of the Webinar:

In a webinar first, the leaders involved with the crafting of the Google Library Project Settlement will share with the publishing industry the benefits of the agreement for publishers and authors. If approved by the Court in October, the agreement will create one of the most far-reaching intellectual, cultural, and commercial platforms for access to digital books for the reading public, while granting publishers unprecedented opportunities and protections. Presented in collaboration with Google, The Association of American Publishers, and Publishers Weekly, the web session is a must-attend event.

PANELISTS
Richard Sarnoff, Co-Chair, Bertelsmann, Inc., AAP Board of Directors
John Sargent, Chief Executive Officer, Macmillan, AAP Board of Directors
Jan Constantine, General Counsel, Author's Guild
James Gleick, Author
Michael Healy, Executive Director Designate, Book Rights Registry

MODERATOR
Jim Milliot, News Director, Publishers Weekly

Thanks for listening! I think it's important.