jonathan band jonathan band pllc jband@policybandwidth.com library association concerns with the...

Jonathan Band Jonathan Band PLLC

jband@policybandwidth.com

Library Association Concerns with the Google Book Settlement

www.policybandwidth.com

Jonathan Band PLLCTechnology Law and Policy

Library Association Comments

On the one hand…

• Google can continue scanning books into its search index.

• For most books (in-copyright, out-of-print), users can see up to 20% of a book for free, rather than just three snippets.

• Users can get free access to full text through public access service terminals.

• Consumers can purchase access to out-of-print books for relatively low cost.

• Institutions can purchase access to full text of millions of books.

• Scholars can perform non-consumptive research on Research Corpus.

• Participating libraries receive digital copies of their collections.

2

www.policybandwidth.com

Jonathan Band PLLCTechnology Law and Policy

Library Association Comments

On the other hand…

• There will be no competition for this “essential facility.”

• Publishers, other search engines will not be able to compete: enormous lead, market share, copyright barrier to entry.

• Pricing of institutional subscriptions could be too high.

• Undermine library values of equity of access, privacy, and intellectual freedom.

3

www.policybandwidth.com

Jonathan Band PLLCTechnology Law and Policy

Library Association Comments

• Google and the BRR will set the price of the institutional subscription.

• Objectives in pricing: realization of revenue at market rates; realization of broad access to books.

• Parameters for pricing include pricing of “similar products and services.”

• Pricing will be based on full-time equivalent (FTE) users.

• Pricing can vary based on category: corporate; higher-ed; K-12; government; public library (only higher-ed can have remote access).

4

www.policybandwidth.com

Jonathan Band PLLCTechnology Law and Policy

Library Association Comments

• If Google and BRR can’t agree on pricing, arbitrator will decide.

• BRR might seek to emulate online journal subscription model of high price, limited access.

• Average research library spends $4.3 million annually for access to 30,000 journal titles; what if arbitrator decides that this is a “comparable product”? See ARL Statistics 2006-2007 50-51 (2008).

• Pricing review in Michigan agreement: available only to Google partners, who might not have financial incentive; refund limited to Google’s share (37% of price).

5

www.policybandwidth.com

Jonathan Band PLLCTechnology Law and Policy

Library Association Comments

Solution?

• Not asking for court to reject settlement

• Instead, asking court to closely supervise interpretation and implementation of settlement

• Libraries must have ability to challenge pricing of institutional subscriptions. 

• Diversity of representation on BRR. 

• Users must be able to learn privacy policies, list of excluded books.

• Companies must be able to challenge BRR’s refusal to license.

6