ATG Hot Topic of the Week: Legal Outcomes for Google & Georgia State, and Geocaching with a Serial E-book

by Jonathan Harwell, Rollins College

After seven long years of litigation against Google for their book scanning, the Association of American Publishers has sealed a private settlement with Google.  Claire Cain Miller has the rundown of what we know so far, in the New York Times.  The common wisdom is that the lawsuit might have outlived its own usefulness, as the e-book landscape has developed so much since 2005.  It’s unclear what this settlement will mean for the library e-book market.  Will Google become a library vendor?  What about DDA/PDA?  We might have some questions for the Lead Engineer of Google Scholar when he speaks at the Charleston Conference!

Meanwhile, Kevin Smith has further thoughts on the Georgia State University copyright decision and what it could mean for fair use.

And finally, an experimental e-book in serialized form incorporates interactive authorship and geocaching. Check out what they’re doing with The Silent History in the LA Times.