SO has anyone been reading about the Lawsuite between Google and Book Rights Registry? Well Google settled with them for a sum of $125 million in legal fees and past royalites. Ok your thinking L0L someone got Google...hehe. Well not really see by Google agreeing to pay these fines they are walking away with a sweet agreement. Here is a REALLY good read that kinda explains what is going on up to date:

The Fight over the Google of All Libraries: A Wired.com FAQ

The Google Book Search Settlement has been much in the news recently, with the Internet Archive, Philip K. Dick's heirs, consumer groups and Microsoft registering their objections to the search giant's agreement with authors and publishers. And now Justice Department anti-trust lawyers are meeting with Google about the settlement, raising the possibility of a full-blown anti-trust court showdown between the government and the world's biggest search and advertising company.

Google Books lets users search and read portions of millions of books.

It's a complicated story combining copyright law, anti-trust issues and the odd problem of orphan books.

It's also the story of one company's attempt to create the largest and most comprehensive library in the history of the world.

Here's Wired.com's guide through the thicket of the Google Book Search Settlement.

Basically there are 24 questions there that go over the case. Some really good questions too that explain the whole story. Here are a few of the questions:

# 6

• How did Google get away with scanning 7 million library books?

Well, there's no problem with scanning millions of public domain books so long as you have the cash, cool technology and cachet to convince some of the world's best libraries to work with you. As for in-copyright books, Google says it has the right to scan and index them, and show snippets online, under the Fair Use doctrine, which carves out exceptions to copyright holders' rights. Being a massive company, mostly loved by users, also helps.

#7

• So could I go into the library and legally rip every music CD and video they have, and put snippets of them online, under the Fair Use doctrine?

That's an interesting question. How good is your lawyer and how high is your bank balance?

#9

• Why did Google settle in 2007 if it has the right to do this? Especially since they have to pay $125 million in lawyer fees and past royalties?

Well, the settlement gives Google the legal cover to digitize all books written to date that are still in copyright. For books that are copyrighted but out-of-print, Google gets to show 20% of the book online and sell digital copies of it, keeping 37 percent. For books in-print and copyrighted, Google gets the right to scan the books and use them for research, and can do more with permission.

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So wht do you all think about this one?