Blog
Ahoy, Critterfolk!
New entry Jun 06
Critter Notices
Books from Critters!
Check out Books by Critters for books by your fellow
Critterfolk, as well as my list of recommended books for writers.
The Sigil Trilogy
If you're looking for an amazing, WOW! science fiction story, check out THE SIGIL TRILOGY. This is — literally — one of the best science fiction novels I've ever read.How to Write SF
The Craft of Writing Science Fiction that Sells by Ben Bova, best-selling author and six-time Hugo Award winner for Best Editor. (This is one of the books your ol' Critter Captain learned from himself, and I highly recommend it.)
(Also via Amazon)
Interviewed!
I was interviewed live on public radio for Critters' birthday, for those who want to listen.
Free Web Sites
Free web sites for authors (and others) are available at www.nyx.net.
ReAnimus Acquires Advent!
ReAnimus Press is pleased to announce the acquisition of the legendary Advent Publishers! Advent is now a subsidiary of ReAnimus Press, and we will continue to publish Advent's titles under the Advent name. Advent was founded in 1956 by Earl Kemp and others, and has published the likes of James Blish, Hal Clement, Robert Heinlein, Damon Knight, E.E. "Doc" Smith, and many others. Advent's high quality titles have won and been finalists for several Hugo Awards, such as The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy and Heinlein's Children. Watch this space for ebook and print editions of all of Advent's current titles!
Book Recommendation
THE SIGIL TRILOGY:
The universe is dying from within...
"Great stuff... Really enjoyed it." — SFWA Grandmaster Michael Moorcock
Announcing ReAnimus Press
If you're looking for great stuff to read from bestselling and award-winning authors—look no further! ReAnimus Press was founded by your very own Critter Captain. (And with a 12% Affiliate program.) [More]
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FEATURED BOOK
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FYI re the Google Books Settlement
Update 4/29/09:The opt-out deadline has been pushed back four months, to September 4, 2009. Folks still need to get educated and decide. Toward that end, here's a link to a guide to the Google settlement put out by a literary agency. The justice department is also looking into the settlement, though they haven't said what aspects they're inspecting. (Possibly anti-trust.) |
Not surprisingly many authors don't know about this, so I'm trying to
spread the word since there are deadlines approaching.
(May 5 Sept. 4, 2009!)
Bearing in mind that I'm not a lawyer and am not giving legal advice, here's some info for you:
Background
When Google started scanning the contents of entire libraries, including books in copyright without permission of their authors, some author/publisher groups sued Google.
This turned into a class action lawsuit -- on behalf of just about all authors or publishers (or their heirs, etc.). If you had a book published (or publish books, or wrote an "insert" for a book) this could possibly include you. It does not apply to magazines.
The parties agreed to a settlement.
The settlement could impact you even if you never heard about this before. (Class action lawsuits are like that, you get included in the class without necessarily knowing it. In this case I gather part of the dispute was that Google said it was too hard to locate the correct rightsholders in the first place.)
Deadlines
There are a number of deadlines by which people may want to take an action.
The most pressing of these is
May 5 Sept. 4, 2009.
If you do not
"opt out"
of the
settlement by 5/9/09 9/4/09 then you are presumed to be included in the settlement.
If you opt out, then you are not covered by the settlement.
As I understand it -- and read this stuff for yourself! -- opting out means you could sue Google or join another lawsuit. If you don't opt out, then you're bound by the terms of this settlement.
Here is SFWA's statement on it.
If you register on the settlement web site then you can search for books, claim them, opt in/out of the settlement, etc.
In or Out?
Whether to opt in or out is a complex question, so read the FAQ . Near as I can figure it, if you opt out, Google may scan your book and may ignore your request for them not to show it to people. (Just as if there was no settlement in the first place.) Whereas, if you opt-in (or do nothing and get opted-in by missing the deadline), then you can tell Google not to display your book or set parameters for how it gets displayed. You get the right to object to the settlement if you opt-in, though that may require lawyers and be complex itself. Rightsholders who opt-in get paid some percent of money Google makes. Some may get up-front payments of, for example, $60. Or something like that.
There are lots of people talking about this, pro and con. Here's one person who suggets the Google Books Partner Program is better. (But this person suggests opting out of the settlement as a precursor for joining this program, and I'm not sure that's a logical necessity... It may be that one can opt-in, remove or exclude one's books, then put them in the other program. So as usual take everything you read with a barrel of salt.)
But first off, you have to decide, by May 5 Sept. 4, 2009 whether to
opt out, or you get opted in. Have fun... :-}
