Books Help

On November 19, 2009, the Court granted preliminary approval of the Amended Settlement. This page describes some of the options available to copyright owners of books not covered by the Amended Settlement, including the ability to participate in revenue models similar to those in the Settlement, or to prevent Google’s scanning or display of your books in the Google Books program.

Options for Revenue Models for Books Not Covered by the Amended Settlement

Whether or not the books you own are covered by the Amended Settlement, Google offers options to make your work accessible in revenue models similar to those offered through the settlement. Many of these revenue models are available through the Google Books Partner Program. The Google Books Partner Program gives authors and publishers options for greater online exposure to their books, resulting in higher sales and new revenue streams. For example, copyright owners who participate in the Google Books Partner Program can participate in Google Editions, a paid access product that will allow you to sell digital editions of books through Google Books and online retailers.

To make your work accessible in revenue models similar to the settlement, check out these resources:

• Overview of the Google Books Partner Program
• Success stories from Google Books partners
• Information for publishers and authors about the Library Project
• Getting started with Google Editions

Options for Preventing Scanning or Display of Books Not Covered by the Amended Settlement

One of the options available to copyright owners in the Original Settlement Agreement filed in October 2008 was to direct Google not to display books scanned through Google’s Library Program that are covered by the settlement. If you previously used the settlement claiming site to request that Google not display your books, you can ask Google to implement this direction for books now not covered by the Amended Settlement. You can do this by authorizing Rust Consulting, Inc., the Settlement Administrator, to provide Google with the information (including the books you listed and your contact information) that you previously submitted on the settlement claiming site. Google will use this information solely for the purpose of implementing your direction that it not scan or display your books. You will not be giving Google a release for any use of these books if you follow this procedure.

To authorize Rust to provide Google with such information, please send an email to Rust at BookSettlement@RustConsulting.com with the subject "Do not scan or display my books." In the body of your email, include the username you set up for your account in the settlement claiming site and the following authorization: "Please share with Google the information I provided on the settlement claiming site, so that Google can use it solely for the purpose of following my direction that it not scan or display my books that are not covered by the Amended Settlement."

Alternatively, to instruct Google not to display your books that are not covered by the Amended Settlement, you can set up your own personal Library Project exclusion account directly with Google by following these instructions.

Please note that these options for preventing display of books are available for copyrighted books scanned through Google’s Library Program – if already scanned, these books appear only in “snippet view” in Google’s search results. If you are seeing full pages of your copyrighted work in Google Books, that means that Google got permission to display the book from another rightsholder, in most cases the publisher. We recommend that you contact your publisher or co-rightsholder in this situation.

Additional Information

If you have additional questions related to the Amended Settlement Agreement, please visit the settlement administration site. For information about the Google Books Partner Program, please visit the Google Books partner help center.

We appreciate the opportunity to work with rightsholders like you. Feel free to bookmark this page for future reference.