For Paul Dickson ’61, an author of more than 50 non-fiction books, the issue of copyright infringement has hit closer than he ever imagined.

After several university libraries agreed to let Google scan and copy millions of copyright-protected books from their collections, Dickson and four other members of the Authors Guild—an organization of published writers that advocates for effective copyright, fair contracts and free expression—brought a class-action lawsuit against Google in September 2005.

“Our reason for bringing the suit was we were just angry,” Dickson said. “Someone was taking something from us, we asked them not to take it, and they still did.”

The Authors Guild claimed that, by digitizing and displaying portions of the writers’ work without their permission, Google was blatantly violating US copyright law. Google, on the other hand, believed that since it only offered readers up to 20 percent of each text, it was still within the fair use provision of this law.

As a resource to students, the University’s Online Library Catalogue features links to Google Books; however, this has brought into question the University’s stand on the morality and legality of Google’s actions.

“Google’s was, from the beginning, a controversial interpretation of the law,” said Associate University Librarian Patricia Tully. “But it is something on which reasonable people can disagree.”

Some faculty members believe that Google’s sharing of the writers’ work without their explicit authorization is inherently unfair.

“It’s important that authors receive the benefits of copyright,” said Professor of Government John Finn.

Members of the University’s library staff, however, noted support for limited sharing, as Google only showed portions of the authors’ texts and did not allow viewers to print these excerpts.

“We felt, after some discussion, that Google was being responsible, if not uncontroversial, in providing limited access to portions of books in copyright,” Tully said. “All of us in the library support the right of authors to be paid for their work. The library also supports the efforts of Google and others to provide access to enormous numbers of out-of-copyright and/or otherwise unavailable books.”

On Oct. 28, 2008, Google reached an out-of-court settlement with the Authors Guild: Google will keep 37 percent of the revenue that has accumulated from the fees charged when viewers purchase the texts in their entirety, while the other 63 percent will be left to the publishers and authors. The revenue from advertisements shown on the same page as the authors’ works will be divided the same way.

“I’m thrilled,” Dickson said in response to the suit’s outcome. “Google now recognizes the rights of writers, specifically their right to be paid for what they produce.”

The authors are not the only ones who have gained from the lawsuit—readers will now benefit from the vast amount of material that has become available to them online. Additionally, since the authors will be compensated for their work, viewers will be able to download the books in their entirety.

The terms of the settlement also protect university presses, which rely on fairly expensive books that, if free, would rob them of their base and essentially make them obsolete.

“This decision actually helps people in academia more than it harms them,” Dickson said. “It protects the individual professor’s right, prevents the demise of the university press system and brings order to the system. Everybody benefits.”

Many authors view the suit’s outcome as more of a symbolic victory—it renews hope that written work can survive in the current world of rapidly advancing technology.

“Writers realized in the internet era that they could be come marginalized, that [the] Googles and Microsofts [of the world] could eat them up,” Dickson said. “Now they can re-identify themselves as owners of intellectual property.”

Despite the frequent ugly nature of lawsuits, Tully agreed that Authors Guild vs. Google was especially effective in protecting the rights of authors.

“Lawsuits, like the one filed by the Authors Guild, are one of many ways to update the law to cover issues that were unimaginable before the electronic revolution,” Tully said.

Ultimately, universities, writers and students will appreciate the lawsuit’s outcome.

“The beauty of it all is that what was born out of anger and frustration is ending up [as] a very, very positive result,” Dickson said.