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[ 28.11.2009 ]

First you’re battling a huge swell on the world’s oceans – and then, all of the sudden, you’re cruising through smooth inland waters. So it seems for European writers’ associations at the moment: the waves first generated by the Google Book Settlement have pretty well subsided since Google – along with its American negotiating partners – presented an amended version of the agreement. This was quickly given preliminary approval by a New York court, even though the decisive hearing is not scheduled until mid February 2010.

One of the most important amendments is that the settlement will only affect works copyrighted in the USA, or published in the UK, Canada, and Australia. Hence, for the time being, it is no longer an issue of Google Books becoming a worldwide project that impacts authors in all four corners of the earth. For in most cases, the Google Book Settlement no longer applies to the works of European rightsholders and publishers.

In addition to the many voices expressing satisfaction at the successful class action against the settlement (which was, in effect, initiated by European associations and governments), others can be heard conjuring up the spectre of an inexorable Anglicisation of global cultural activities. What’s more, there’s the fear of not being able to profit from the undeniable benefits of a rapid and all-inclusive digitisation, and having to stagnate alone in (non-English) European linguistic backwaters. While alternative projects like Europeana are moving forward sluggishly, Google is pushing on extremely quickly and effectively.

Digitisation is sure to progress at double-quick time, which is why the amended settlement has failed to dispel the fear of Google’s quasi-monopoly in the e-book arena. One announcement recently underscored this fact. Other information giants have now decided to take extraordinary measures against Google’s impending monopoly: in alliance with Microsoft, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation wants to make a stand against Google’s search engine by pulling all Murdoch media content off Google and making it exclusively available via Bing, Microsoft’s search engine. Whether this scheme will work or not is still being hotly disputed. Murdoch might then also just end up drifting through deserted News Corp waters.