According to 4.5 (a) (i) in the Settlement: “Google shall pay to the Registry, on behalf of the Rightsholders, the Standard Revenue Split for Purchases. The “Standard Revenue Split for Purchases,” paid by Google to Rightsholders, through the Registry, is seventy percent (70%) of Net Purchase Revenues.” And those Net Purchase Revenues are after the 10% operating expenses.

Of course, the 63% goes to the Registry, whose allowable expense deductions are far from clearly defined.

4.5 (b) (ii) says: “The Registry may authorize Google to make Books available through Consumer Purchases at discounts of up to forty percent (40%) off the List Price, subject to notification of such discount to the Registered Rightsholders of the Book, with an opportunity for any such Rightsholder not to approve such discount. If Google sells Books at such a discounted price, the Standard Revenue Split for Purchases will be based on such discounted price.”

Anybody want to bet that Google won’t continue to apply its strong arm tactics and damn-the-torpedoes-full-speed-ahead approach it has been using regarding copyright all along? Maybe if you don’t agree to a 40% discount, they’ll just drop your book from the database…

4.5 (b) (iii) allows Google to set a discounted selling price for “Institutional Subscriptions” of up to 10%. 4.5 (b) (V) also allows Affiliate Program discounts of up to 3.75%.

All of the above will directly affect the gross revenues from which Google will deduct its 10% operating expenses and pass what’s left to the Registry. The Registry will then deduct some unspecified expenses and distribute what’s left to the actual copyright owners.

And all bets are off it Google decides — pretty much on its own and with defined limitations — that your book is “not commercially available” and, by Settlement definition, subsequently out-of-print! The Settlement clearly puts the burden of proving that a book is “commercially available” on the publisher or author. And proof is required, without which Google can pretty much do whatever it wants with the book (probably with the collusion of the Registry).

I don’t believe the Authors Guild or the AAP had any right to push this as a class action except for their actual members. They’re clearly in it for their own glory and to expand their influence.

Google has consistently shown itself to be anti-copyright and prone to using its size and deep pockets to thumb their corporate nose at anyone who doesn’t like what they do.

If you want to continue to trust an unethical company, based on a questionable “settlement,” go right ahead. We have declined.

Certain limited discounts for consortium sales are also specified in the agreement and they are quite a bit smaller that the 40% that you estimate. So don’t be surprised if you are very surprised.

Thank you for the clarification. I did understand that but failed to state it clearly. Maybe I should stop writing blog posts so quickly.

However, as I read the settlement, it seems to me that the 63% will apply to the selling price. If Google sells it at a 40% discount, the amount passed to the Registry (for eventual distribution to rights holder) will be 63% of the other 60% (i.e., 37.8% of retail). Then the Registry will deduct their expenses from that before paying the rights holder what’s left.

I’d be surprised if rights holders see more than 30% of retail price under those conditions.

Thanks for mentioning my teleseminar, “What the Google Book Settlement Means for Authors and Publishers”, in your blog posting.

Let me offer one point of clarification regarding the author-publishers’ 63% share of revenue. The 63% does actually already factor in Google’s operating expenses. Google takes 10% off the top; then allocates 63% of what’s left to authors and publishers. The ongoing administration, operations, and tax costs for the Book Rights Registry will come out of the authors/publishers’ 63% share.

- Joy Butler, Attorney and Author of The Permission Seeker’s Guide Through the Legal Jungle