Copyright Categories

With the DOJ concern and the controversy surrounding the Google Book Settlement. I figured it'd be good to take a quick look at the various copyright planes that creative works can exist in.

They intersect along the lines of copyright protection, printing status, and the owners desires to enforce copyrights.

• In Copyright; In Print; Protection Wanted
• In Copyright; In Print; Apathetic/Relinquished Rights
• In Copyright; Out of Print; Protection Wanted
• In Copyright; Out of Print; Apathetic/Relinquished Rights
• Out of Copyright; In Print; Legally Moot
• Out of Copyright; Out of Print; Legally Moot

It's important to note that Protection Wanted is a fairly wide spectrum. The owner of the copyright can decide what and how much protection they would like - - from wanting print-only versions (no e-books or movie adaptations please!), or offering music on a CD for $2 but for free download online, and all the way approaching relinquished rights. If they want essentially no restrictions over the use of their work they would fall under the apathetic/relinquish rights category because in most practical uses of their work (including Google Books') they would not litigate. The Apathetic/Relinquished Rights on the surface can move the work to "out of copyright," but practically and legally they would still retain certain rights until the copyright expires.

I point out the print status because that is a key issue of information access. If a genius book is out of print, it's much more difficult for someone in need to access it. That is one of the places Google Books provides a great service. Perhaps some things are out of print because the owner wants them that way, but mostly out of print things fall into the category because reprinting or republishing would be ultimately unprofitable (like for many unpopular independent works).

The so-called orphaned works are in copyright but whether protection is desired or not is unknown. While there is something to be said for believing if the copyright holder does not make a claim over their work they are most likely apathetic, that might not be the case. And I don't think it's fair to preclude any copyrights of the owner just because they weren't party to the class action lawsuit.

That said, OVERALL I think Google is doing an amazing thing. They can bring out of print, in copyright works to the market profitably. They can bring works of Authors who don't much care about their works fate to the public. They can continue to bring works already out of copyright to the publics easy access. I believe what they are doing is ultimately helping progress and the public good.

I do wish they would open the settlement to other competing entities. I wish they'd allow copyright owners to make decisions about their works' use on their own (perhaps similar to a CC scheme with various licenses).

I think all in all Google is pushing the realm of information in a good direction, the settlement just needs tweaks to make truly in the public's best interest.