An Open Letter From the President and CEO of The Association of American Publishers

Dear Industry Colleague:

In the countdown to the October 7 court hearing on the Google Book Settlement we are encountering heated rhetoric from opponents, much of it hyperbolic and misleading. My job at AAP’s helm is not only to shepherd our membership through the coming months but to remind the industry at large that the Settlement offers enormous benefits and represents our best hope of remaining competitive and vibrant in the digital environment.

Millions of copyright-protected books are out of print and largely out of reach, available only through the largest research libraries in the country. The Google Book Settlement announced in October 2008 – the result of 30 months of negotiations between and among authors, publishers, university libraries and Google -- changes all that, working a revolution in the access to knowledge. If approved by the court, the settlement will:·

Provide readers and researchers with access to millions of out-of-print books, many of which are currently difficult or impossible for readers to obtain, in a searchable online database.

· Turn every public library building in the U.S. into a world-class research facility by providing free access to the online portal of out-of-print books.·

Permit any college or university in the U.S. to subscribe to the same rich database of out-of-print books.·

Give new commercial life to millions of books, while protecting the economic rights of authors and publishers.

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