Sina Technology News, morning message on October 23rd, Erik Hartmann, the Chief Representative of Google Book Search Strategic Partnership Department for the Asia-Pacific region, once again interpreted the strategy of book search in China through a blog post last night. According to his disclosure, although Google will open library books not exceeding the copyright protection period to readers in the U.S., this method will not be applied to the Chinese market.
Recently, the unauthorized scanning and uploading online of nearly twenty thousand works by 570 Chinese writers has once again pushed Google into the spotlight of public attention.
Google had previously proposed settlement terms indicating that it was willing to pay at least $60 per work as compensation to writers according to the compensation agreement reached with the American Writers Association and Publishers Association, as well as 63% of future online reading revenue. However, writers must file an "application" within the specified time frame or they will forfeit their right to compensation.
The above-mentioned agreement allows Google to make these library books not exceeding the copyright protection period available to American readers.
However, last night, Erik Hartmann, the Chief Representative of Google Book Search Strategic Partnership Department for the Asia-Pacific region, clearly stated in a signed blog post that "this agreement will not affect the presentation of Chinese books in China, unless the copyright holders of these books authorize us for more uses."
This means that if the scanned Chinese books are still within the copyright protection period, Google will present at most three excerpts from the book in the search results; or present no content upon request by the copyright holder. As for books that have exceeded the copyright protection period, users can read and download the entire book for free.
Erik Hartmann also indicated that all books still within the copyright protection period that are currently being scanned by Google Books are provided entirely by library partners in the United States.
The following is the full text of the blog article published by Erik Hartmann:
Google Books: Bringing Users Closer to Books, Bringing China to the World
Published by: Erik Hartmann, Chief Representative of Google Book Search Strategic Partnership Department for the Asia-Pacific Region
Just like the compass, gunpowder, papermaking, printing is one of China's four great inventions, its emergence has had a profound impact on human society, greatly enhancing people's opportunities to obtain information and completely changing the way knowledge is spread.
Today, digitization also provides similar opportunities, and goes further: it enables anyone to access the vast knowledge stored in the ocean of world books anytime, anywhere. In addition, it also provides a huge opportunity for us to promote and spread the long-standing traditions and culture of the Chinese nation across national borders.
Based on such a grand ideal, in 2004, we launched the Google Book Search project. We worked with publishers, authors, and libraries around the world to digitize books worldwide, making it easier for people to find the books they need.
Google Book Search makes finding books as easy as finding web pages. Just visit books.google.cn, and you can search the contents of tens of thousands of books, regardless of whether the content is new or old, whether they are literary classics or popular novels.
We scan books from two sources:
The first source is our "Library Project". According to this project, we have scanned books provided by more than forty renowned library partners, including the University of Michigan Library and Stanford University Library. For books that have exceeded the copyright protection period, users can read and download the entire book for free. If the scanned book is still within the copyright protection period, we will present at most three excerpts from the book in the search results; or present no content upon request by the copyright holder. In fact, all books still within the copyright protection period that are scanned under the "Library Project" are provided entirely by our library partners in the United States. And for library partners outside the United States, we only scan books that have exceeded the copyright protection period.
In the United States, we recently reached a settlement agreement with authors and publishers: making these library books not exceeding the copyright protection period available to American readers. But this agreement will not affect the presentation of Chinese books in China, unless the copyright holders of these books authorize us for more uses.
The second source is our "Partner Program". According to this program, partners (usually publishers) authorize us to digitize their books and provide limited content previews on the internet. During "content previews", readers can read part of the book's content, generally 20% of the entire book, which is similar to the experience of buying books in a physical bookstore. Today, more than 30,000 rights holders from over 100 countries participate in this project, providing authorization for more than 1.5 million books. In China alone, more than 50 publishers have provided authorization for 60,000 books.
For Chinese users, this means they can conveniently search for books from home, workplace, or school, then see how to purchase these books online, or find them in nearby libraries or bookstores.
Google Book Search also provides a new economic source for Chinese publishers and authors, bringing unexpected effects. The "Partner Program" provides a new way for book promotion and sales, while also extending the commercial life of inventory books. For example, some books that haven't sold for decades suddenly started selling again, simply because users can now find the books they need. Another example is that one of our Chinese publisher partners has already provided authorization for over 5,000 books, and these books average 500,000 views per month and generate about 5,000 purchase clicks. Every year, hundreds of thousands of high-quality users can find the books they want through Google Books and link to Dangdang and Joyo, the most popular online bookstores in China, for online purchases.
Similarly exciting is that Chinese books have more opportunities to appear in the sight of readers outside China: Chinese is one of the most used languages in book searches.
Currently, the whole world is eager to learn more about China and her people and culture. The Google Book Search platform provides a unique way for people around the world to learn more about China's contributions to the world, and also provides a good opportunity for Chinese writers to gain more exposure both domestically and internationally.