Authors Guild, William Morris Not on Same Page re Google Settlement

After William Morris Endeavor (a recent merger of two major Hollywood agencies) urged its clients and other agencies and authors to opt out of the Google settlement, Authors Guild swiftly issued a rebuttal, saying WME's memo "contains several errors."

WME's reasoning is summarized by Publishers Lunch, the industry's online newsletter: "Though the primary reason to opt-out entirely is preserve one's rights to pursue independent litigation against Google, WME appears motivated by another argument we've heard circulating among some agents. They simply don't want their clients subjected in any way to the jurisdiction of the blanket agreement."

The Guild on the other hand contends that "unless you want to sue Google, there's no good reason to opt out of the settlement. If you want to allow your book to be searchable in Google's database, and you want to be fairly compensated for Google's use of your work, and you want to retain complete control over whether, and how, your book is displayed or sold to users, you should remain in the settlement.

To read the Guild's statement in its entirety, click here.

Who are we to believe? For the moment there's no need to believe anyone. But as the September 4th deadline for opting in or opting out impinges on us it becomes imperative for all members of the publishing community to study the issues. The WME-Guild debate may appear to fuel our confusion, but it will actually help to dispel it.

For details of the original settlement and background on the issues click here.

Richard Curtis