Google Book Settlement - Survey Says - Too Much Confusion and too little Support

The noise on the Google Book Settlement is growing as predicted and the position of both extremes hardening daily. What is clear is that there is little clarity and much uncertainty, as we all wish for a digital future in which we have equal rights and where technology is used for the good of the author and consumer and not merely to offer commercial gain of the intermediaries.

We do not support the status quo, neither do we support what we view as commercial bullying. The issues to us have and remain, representation and orphans. The imprints in copyright works are adequately covered and cause no concern. The public domain is the public domain and by its very name is open to all. Orphans may be without known, or visible, or even disputed parentage, but that doesn’t mean that they can be given away by parties who don’t own them to avoid legal bills and the settle a case that remains unsettled, just botched.What we wanted was a clear dissemination of the facts but we feel we just got fudge, a few discussions and a trust us we know best’ for some within the industry that should have known better. Where was the real debate? Where was the censuses gathering? How many publishers, retailers, libraries, authors, agents were polled or asked in the last year to vote in the deal?There has been a marked silence in many quarters.

The above piece from the Brave New World blog, read the rest here.