tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28278131.post7977941659203171496..comments2024-02-01T12:31:52.518-05:00Comments on Personanondata: Finding An OrphanMChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08121709548793388116noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28278131.post-61038700992474085532009-06-30T13:21:23.351-04:002009-06-30T13:21:23.351-04:00In some ways, the Google settlement is like a clas...In some ways, the Google settlement is like a class action lawsuit against Apple that I was once asked to join. I certainly qualified. I owned two older Apple computers that were the focus of the dispute and one really did, as the suit alleged, run OS X hideously slowly.<br /><br />But I didn't participate because from my end participation made no sense. The labor involved for the mediocre payment was too much. I had to read and sign complicated legal documents, return a CD, and agree to be legal bound in ways I didn't like in return for what--a mere $25. I could earn more flipping burgers.<br /><br />The Google settlement is like that but much worse. The payment for those whose copyright has been infringed is a pittance, $60 or less. Factor in the time it'd take to even begin to figure what the 300-plus-page document means and child laborers in third world hell-holes are better paid. That's not even getting into the rights a copyright holder signs away to participate, including the right to take Google to court. Lose that, and you lose any leverage to force Google to accept any interpretation of this complicated settlement other than their own.<br /><br />For most authors and publishers, there's little reason to try to make sense of the complicated settlement terms. It is foolish to sign something no one really understands and even more foolish to spend so much time trying to understand it that, even if you opt-in, you'll never earn what your time is worth.<br /><br />In short, opt-out and be done with it is the best solution for most authors and publishers. In the unlikely case the settlement actually generates significant income, you can always join later when what is meant by signing is clearer.<br /><br />There's another factor. With the Justice Department looking at the settlement as an anti-trust violation, the judge may toss the settlement out altogether. All those hours of effort to understand it won't earn you a penny.<br /><br />The settlement is also headed for major trouble in the global arena. Because it applies to the U.S. copyrights held by almost all writers of books in the world, the international treaties we've signed with some 160 countries apply and even a casual reading suggests it violates those treaties. The press in this country hasn't picked up on that story yet, but opposition is growing overseas and at some point it will begin to bear on the outcome. We could end up in a nasty copyright war, particularly with Europe.Inklinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05272203500649628022noreply@blogger.com