Google Wades into E-Mud with E-Books; Settlement with Publishers May Not Be Valid
It was news at the end of October that Google came to terms with publishers and authors regarding its scanning of copyrighted books and making them available for electronic search. However, a new twist has emerged: Google will be able to sell electronic versions of books that have gone out of print. Depending on the very specifics of that agreement between publishers, Google, and the Authors Guild, all three have walked into a veritable quicksand of upcoming woe, argument, and potential law suits, all because they're forgetting a basic legal issue in most publishing.