More on Google Book Scheme: REASONS TO OPT OUT
I pointed out in my last post that some unscrupulous former clients were reissuing my work on Kindle and had included it in the Google Book Search scheme without my permission.
Now, while you may think I am being all dog in the manger about my rights, consider that in I NEVER GRANTED ANY OF THESE CLIENTS ANY REUSE RIGHTS IN THE FIRST PLACE.
Moreover, when my other books went out of print and my contracts expired, all rights reverted to me. My ex-publishers and ex-clients have NO RIGHT to authorize the use of my work on Kindle or on Google. Yet they have done so.
Illustrations and essays years old are now being resold without my permission.
To add insult to injury, I WAS NEVER PAID FOR SOME OF THIS WORK IN THE FIRST PLACE.
No, not kidding.
Let me make this clear. Clients with whom I had bad experiences have come out of the woodwork and illegally granted Kindle and Google rights to my work, rights they do not own, in most cases for work I was never paid a dime to use.
Now, am I being a greedy mean old author who simply doesn’t want my silly little works in a search engine, or am I simply exercising my right to walk away from people I haven’t spoken to or done business with in years because they do not honor their contracts or pay their bills?
Why on Earth would ANY author want to revisit any working relationship with a dishonest client?
There are many reasons some of us would like some books to go out of print and stay there, and a major reason for me is to kill a working relationship with a client who ripped me off. If the publisher is collecting moolah on my out of print work, and I never got any money on the book in the first place, what’s the joy supposed to be in the nothing Colleen continues to get?
How happy am I supposed to be when I wake up one day and find that an author or publisher has authorized electronic reuse of my work with absolutely NO provision made for the dispensation of funds for that reuse, and no release for that reuse? I haven’t spoken to these people in years because they are crooks. Why do I want to do business with them now?
You think I want to continue dealing with these paramecium in perpetuity because Google doesn’t want my books to go out of print?
Hell, no.
All I want is my essays and illos removed from any collections I did with clients with whom I want no further contact. I do not want substandard works to go back in print because Google says so. I do not want to revisit working relationships with clients who were dishonest and abusive.
…those who stay in the GBS deal must waive trademark and publicity rights in their names, likenesses, character names, and the like. If you want to run ads to promote your books through GBS, Google may ask you to buy keyword rights to your name, etc. for its AdSense program; you may even need to buy these keywords if you don’t want others to buy them.
And some more ammo:
These authors had signed contracts with Random House under which they gave Random House rights “to publish the work[s] in book form.” Random House asserted this gave it e-book rights and charged Rosetta with infringement. The court ruled that this contract language was understood in the trade as a limited grant, and since e-books were a new use not contemplated at the time of the initial publishing contract, the rights remained with the authors.
Still on the fence about opting out of that Google thing?
January 28th, 2010 at 2:53 pm
This entire situation has me speechless. I don’t think anyone can blame you for opting out. If I were a published creator, I wouldn’t even hesitate to run from this scheme!
January 28th, 2010 at 4:41 pm
Colleen, you mentioned having reasons for not wanting to see some work reprinted. And certainly that’s reasonable enough (like the graphic novel you did with the Crazy Woman).
And suddenly, it popped in my head that Stephen King pulled one of his Bachman titles out of print after Columbine, and does not want to see it back on shelves. So, since it is technically “out of print”, is Google going to think they have the right to reprint a book King himself thought problematic (the issue being kids shooting up their schools)? Is he going to have a say in that matter? It made me curious as to what his reaction to this whole mess was.
(I went and opted out myself, since my work in the Shooting Star comics anthologies could be considered “out of print”.)
January 28th, 2010 at 4:50 pm
Good point there.
Every author may have very good reasons for wanting works to go out of print, and King’s reason is a compelling one. In fact, some of us may have pre-existing agreements that work never be brought into print again.
Google removes that right from us.
I know the only reason some of my old works would sell is because my name is attached to those projects. My “collaborators” have no audience of their own.
I have ample reason NOT to allow dishonest people to make a buck on my professional reputation. And I have every reason to believe my professional reputation will not be enhanced in any way allowing my name to be associated with theirs. I do not want to see my work lining their pockets.
I have the absolute right not to be forced to work with these people in the future. Those projects are dead and those contracts are no longer in force. And rights to electronic use were never granted in the first place.
January 28th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
[...] | Colleen Doran notes that several of her books have been released on the Kindle and on Google Books without her [...]
January 28th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
[...] | Colleen Doran notes that several of her books have been released on the Kindle and on Google Books without her [...]
January 28th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
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January 29th, 2010 at 12:07 am
I guess my question is, should I opt out pre emptively, not so much to protect the POD books I have but the story in the Writers of the Future anthology which I was paid a flat rate for and so far as I know is no longer in print (yearly anthology, duh). WHat’s to keep Google from deciding it needs to reprint my story for me?
January 29th, 2010 at 12:11 am
I’d opt out, but that’s just me. Assuming you don’t want Google to have use of your work.
January 29th, 2010 at 9:08 am
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