iOS4 is a free upgrade for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPads. It’s rumoured that another platform will be eventually added to the iOS family when Apple uses it to revamp its unsuccessful Apple TV set-top box.

Of note for publishers:

• Apple is talking up its iBookstore as the third store platform, following the original iTunes and the App Store. It claims that, among the large publishers who’ve supported the iBookstore since launch on 3 April, sales through the iBookstore now represent 22% of their ebook sales.
• The iBooks e-reading app has now been ported to the iPhone and iPod Touch.
• The iBookstore now operates wirelessly, no PC required, and will syncronise your ebooks across multiple Apple devices. This includes your ebook library, the place you’re at in the ebook you’re reading and — a new feature — your bookmarks and annotations.
• iBooks now reads PDFs as well as ePub formatted ebooks. This will make it useful as a reader for business documents as well as adding what is still a popular ebook format and might serve as a useful interim “quick and dirty” format for illustrated books and textbooks.
• On the hardware front, a new iPhone model was announced which will improve the reading experience with a higher resolution, 960 x 640,  327 pixel per inch display and an extended battery life.
• iOS4 will also see the launch on 1 July of Apple’s mobile advertising platform, iAds. iAds will open up a new source of income for app developers, potentially opening advertising to any of the quarter of a million apps. Apple will take 40% and return 60% to developers. In a show of strength, it signed up US$60 million of A-list advertisers to support the launch, a figure Apple claims is half of the entire projected mobile ad spend for the second half of 2010. One neat feature will be the ability to launch web ads from an in-app browser so that the user remains inside the application when viewing the advertiser’s website rather than being taken out of the app to launch the Safari web browser.

Finally, in what is becoming an unfortunate pattern in Apple’s announcements, a revised developer agreement takes aim at potential Apple rivals, locking them out of the App store. This time, Google appears to be the target with its competing mobile ad platform, AdMob. Google beat Apple this week by releasing the SDK (software development kit) for its in-app mobile advertising for the iPhone and iPad. The trouble is, in a move reminiscent of its ban on Adobe’s Flash platform on the eve of the iPad launch, Apple just changed the terms of its developer agreement, making it unlikely that any app developers will be able to incorporate AdMob ads without risking being banned from the App store.

More on the launch: See the Techcrunch summary of key points from the iPhone and iOS4 launch.

Google Editions’ approach will differ in a couple of significant ways from current outlets including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and Apple.

First, Google will be operating both a retail and a wholesale model. The latter will reportedly allow even small independent booksellers to get into the ebook retailing space with a large catalogue of ebooks, something that is today beyond the technical and logistics capabilities of most booksellers.

The second big difference is that Google plans to use the standard web browser for its reading platform and the ebooks themselves will reside “in the cloud” on Google’s servers. This means they’ll be readable by any device that supports a web browser instead of just a narrow group of reading devices supported by a particular online retailer. Another advantage of this approach is that it will not require cumbersome DRM (digital rights management) to prevent copying. Google’s system will, however, still support offline reading via a temporary version of the ebook in the browser’s local cache.

For the emerging digital content industries, this could be an interesting case study in the use of new technologies being built into modern web browsers such as HTML5, the latest version of the technology that underpins the worldwide web. If Google is able to deliver a sophisticated “web app” with features and a user experience that compete with dedicated software such as iPhone and iPad apps, it will give a big boost to the use of open web standards as a way to get content onto the new breed of mobile devices. This will be especially welcome in view of Apple’s recent bad behaviour.

There’s no word yet of which publishers will be likely to support Google Editions but it’s hard to see Google having much trouble attracting publishers who will welcome more competition and Google’s plans to make ebook selling accessible to smaller players. Through it Partner Program which drives the Preview feature of Google Books search, Google already has access to a big share of the world’s publishers.

Google Editions is separate from the Google Book Search programme which has landed Google in hot water through its attempt to digitise millions of the world’s books without rightsholder permission. The company says that Google Editions, which will sell commercially available ebooks, will launch regardless of the outcome of the Google Books Settlement.

When Apple launched its long-rumoured iPad tablet computer late last month, it fired a major salvo in the battle for control of media in a new digital era. In its global sights were Google and Amazon who, along with Apple, are the companies driving this seismic shift in media.

All three companies are jockeying to be gatekeepers between content providers and consumers. So far, many of these battles have been playing out overseas but in 2010, New Zealanders will get to join in.

It’s the ability to get consumers to pay for digital content and reduce its reliance on a broken online advertising model that is at the heart of the media’s excitement. So it’s not surprising that a lot of the early jostling is for control of the one major medium that’s largely ad-free, books.

With business models that link online stores to specialised gadgets, companies like Apple and Amazon are proving that consumers will pay for music downloads, ebooks and even online newspaper subscriptions if you make it easy and attractive enough.

In this new world, the PC is no longer centre stage. Increasingly, what we’re spending our time doing is communicating, surfing the internet and consuming media online, not running applications like Microsoft Office. To do this, people want inexpensive gadgets that are highly portable, comfortable for lengthy reading or watching videos, simple to use, with long battery life, and always connected to the web.

It’s a wish-list that’s been tough to fill, until now. At last month’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, a slew of new ebook readers and so-called tablet computers were announced that, to varying degrees, will fill these needs.

Many will be in New Zealand by the second half of this year by which time Kiwis will also have access to content from local e-bookstores including Kobo from the Whitcoulls/Borders group, a host of New Zealand ebooks and perhaps some magazines from local publishers, and Amazon’s Kindle should finally be here.

The excitement of CES had barely subsided when Apple, with impeccable timing, announced on 27 January the much-hyped but impressive iPad.

For book publishers and the wider media industry, the iPad and its competitors can’t come soon enough. The iPad is a thin, light tablet the size of an A5 notepad. It will surf the web and do your email (it has an almost-full-size touch keypad and a real keyboard can be attached as an option). But importantly it also lets you comfortably read books, magazines and newspapers or watch videos over its wireless internet. It’s a very different experience from a PC but a very familiar one for millions of iPhone and iPod Touch users. The iPad looks just like a grown-up iPhone.

Its unexpectedly low US$499 entry level price point will make things much tougher for the numerous companies that announced entry into this market. They’re going to have to compete more on features and specialisation, making it much harder to get a foothold.

One area is screen technology where a lot of innovation has happened. Apple chose to stick with its proven LED technology which provides crisp colour images and quick performance but is hard on batteries, difficult to read in sunlight and can cause eye strain from prolonged reading. A new breed of electronic papers solves most of these problems and many of the new devices coming out this year will use them. Some of them are targeting business rather than consumers, hoping to finally bring about the paperless office.

To show off its print media credentials at the iPad launch, Apple CEO Steve Jobs demonstrated a special edition of the New York Times newspaper and a new application, iBooks, that lets you read ebooks – not just the black and white text editions that Amazon’s Kindle restricts you to but full colour, rich media versions that will make magazines and newspapers viable too. And from its associated iTunes-like iBook store, you can buy them right from within your iPad.

The deals Apple has struck with major book publishers are rumoured to give publishers a bigger margin and better control over pricing than Amazon gives them, two areas where Amazon has got offside. Watch for iPad deals with magazines and newspapers to follow.

In this battle to win the hearts and wallets of consumers and the media Apple, with its power to popularise gadgets, has a distinct edge over Amazon and Google.

Google’s strategy is to provide its Android and Chrome operating system platforms free to any manufacturer for this new generation of media-centric devices such as smartphones, tablet computers, and ebook readers. Dozens have already jumped on board and many of the direct competitors for Apple’s iPhone and iPad will be built using Google’s systems.

In mid 2010, Google will begin selling content through its own online bookstore, Google Editions, going head to head with Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iBook store. But Google plans to sell to intermediaries such as online booksellers and libraries as well as to the end consumer, potentially creating a more diverse industry. Google’s technology, reach and openness to partnerships is likely to make it a major contender. But Google is new to building system software and so far Apple still has the edge, something it’s likely to take advantage of as it wins over early adopters. And Google got offside with the publishing industry, governments and much of the public with its controversial Google Books programme, something that might come back to bite it as competition heats up.

Amazon, as an online retailer, is new to the hardware game. While it’s done a credible job with the Kindle getting consumers excited about ebooks, the Kindle is a very simple device and it’s by no means clear that Amazon can scale up its hardware operation to compete with the much more sophisticated devices consumers will be demanding.

An interesting, but little-noticed part of Apple’s announcement is likely to make Amazon’s job even tougher. Apple, like Google, is throwing its weight behind an industry-sponsored open ebook format called ePub. This might finally end the ebook ‘format wars’, tipping the balance in favour of a single format, ePub, and forcing Amazon to rethink its own proprietary Kindle format. Losing control of both the device and the format will make it tougher for Amazon to control the distribution of digital content. There are signs its market control is already weakening.

Other companies are in the picture, including Microsoft, and it’s too early to rule out a dark horse emerging. But so far, it’s looking like a three horse race to rule over the global distribution of digital content. Following Apple’s latest move, I’d say it’s Apple in front by a nose.

- Martin Taylor

It’s aimed at the small publisher and self-publisher market with fairly minimal requirements. Here’s a summary of how it works.

1. You establish an Amazon account or use your existing account.
2. Add a book using a straighforward process that provides basic metadata, a description and cover image, lets you specify whether you want DRM applied or not, confirms that you have rights to the book (which can be limited to specified territories), and lets you set the retail price.
3. You upload a file of your book which Amazon converts into its own Kindle format. The formats that produce best results are MS Word, HTML or the PRC format. PRC is the old Palm format on which Amazon’s Mobipocket and Kindle (AZW) formats are based. Predictably, there’s no specific suggestion that ePub format would be useful, although you can still upload it, and Amazon specifically notes that PDF may lead to poor results.
4. You’re done.

It’s a simple way to get into the hottest ebook store on the planet. Amazon’s DTP agreement is also pretty straightforward although, as you’ll see below, is aimed more at the self-publishing market.

• You grant Amazon non-exclusive rights to sell worldwide (unless specifically restricted) and across all electronic media. You can terminate with five days notice.
• You receive a royalty of 35% of the list price you’ve set, subject to certain restrictions such as not being higher than the price the book is sold elsewhere. So Amazon keeps 65%. [Update 22 January 2010: Amazon offers a new 70% royalty option]. If you’re a self-publishing author, this is better than most standard book royalty deals—but much worse the 80% cut offered by sites such as Smashwords. For publishers, it’s a steep discount that’s more like the receipts they’d expect from a traditional print book distributor and their cut, of course, would need to be shared with the author on a typical 20-25% of net basis, ie the author would end up with about 7-9% of list. Amazon’s 65% cut is high by current digital standards and higher than the proposed 37% cut that Google would take through its Google Editions service scheduled for later this year. Google offers a two-tier deal, depending on whether books are sold directly by Google (Google keeps 37%) or through a retail partner (Google keeps 55%, allowing it to pass on a 45% discount to the retailer and keep the difference).
• If you’re a non-US business, your only payment option at the moment  is by cheque with a US$100 minimum balance.

Notable, of course, is the change relating to the territories from which the published works must come: it is now only the US, UK, Canada and Australia.

The document clarifies that rightsholders whose works were published in other territories such as New Zealand will no longer be class members (ie bound by the terms of the proposed settlement agreement) and, as a result, are now free to sue Google.

As an alternative, the court points rightsholders to this information page from Google where Google will keep jilted class members updated with alternatives, including the very useful Google Books Partner Program.

The court’s note, and Google’s page, refer to Google’s plans to extend this program to provide a service for publishers and authors that will be similar to the features offered under the class action — without the coercion.

The full text of the court’s summary follows:

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

The parties in Authors Guild, et al. v. Google Inc . announced a settlement of the litigation in October 2008 and sent out a Notice of that settlement (the “Original Settlement”). The parties have now amended the Original Settlement in response to discussions with the United States Department of Justice and objections to the Original Settlement (the “Amended Settlement”). The Amended Settlement Agreement (“ASA”), as well as the original Settlement Agreement and the original Notice, may be found at http://www.googlebooksettlement.com or obtained from the Settlement Administrator.

This Supplemental Notice is not designed to replace the original Notice, but rather, to supplement that Notice. This Supplemental Notice identifies:

1. The material amendments to the Original Settlement,
2. Your rights under the Amended Settlement, and
3. The date of the fairness hearing scheduled to determine whether the Amended Settlement should be granted final approval.

Summary of Amendments to the Original Settlement

1. Amended Settlement Class. The definition of Books has been narrowed. As a consequence, many class members under the Original Settlement are no longer class members under the Amended Settlement.

Rightsholders Who Are Included in the Amended Settlement Class

• For United States works, the definition of Books remains largely unchanged: United States works must have been published and registered with the United States Copyright Office by January 5, 2009 to be included in the Amended Settlement.
• Under the Amended Settlement, however, if the works are not United States works, they are only included in the Amended Settlement if they were published by January 5, 2009 and either were registered with the U.S. Copyright Office by that date or their place of publication was in Canada, the United Kingdom (“UK”) or Australia.

As a result of the narrowing of the definition of Books, the scope of Inserts has been narrowed as well.

Please note that you may be a member of the Amended Settlement Class even if you do not reside in the United States, Canada, the UK or Australia. If your work meets the criteria above, then you are a member of the Amended Settlement Class regardless of where you reside and regardless of where else your work may also have been published. (ASA Section 1.19)

A work will be considered to have a place of publication in Canada, the UK or Australia if its printed copy contains information indicating that the place of publication was in one of those three countries. Such information may include, for example, a statement that the book was “Published in [Canada or the UK or Australia],” or the location or address of the publisher in one of those three countries.

Rightsholders Who Are Not Included in the Amended Settlement Class

As a result of these amendments, if the only United States copyright interests you own are in works that were not either (a) published and registered with the United States Copyright Office by January 5, 2009 or (b) published in Canada, the UK or Australia by that date, you are not a member of the Amended Settlement Class, even if you were a member of the original Settlement Class.

If you are not a member of the Amended Settlement Class, you will not be eligible to participate in the Amended Settlement and you will not be bound by its terms. You retain all rights to sue Google for its digitization and use of your copyrighted material without your permission. If you wish to sue Google for such digitization and use, you must do so in a separate lawsuit. Your rights may be affected by laws limiting the time within which you may bring such a suit. If you are interested in bringing a lawsuit against Google, you should consult your own attorney.

If you were a class member under the Original Settlement, but are not a class member under the Amended Settlement, you should visithttp://books.google.com/books-partner-options in order to learn about Google’s current policies with respect to the removal of your works from its databases, as well as Google’s interest in making your works accessible in models similar to those in the Amended Settlement under similar terms.

2. Commercially Available. The Amended Settlement clarifies that a Book is Commercially Available if it is being offered for sale new by a seller anywhere in the world to a buyer in the United States, Canada, the UK or Australia. (ASA Section 1.31)

The Amended Settlement now provides that Google will not display any Book it classifies as not Commercially Available for at least 60 days after the date of that classification, or the Effective Date, whichever is later. The Amended Settlement also now provides that, if a Rightsholder asserts that a Book is Commercially Available, Google will not display the Book unless Google successfully challenges that assertion in a dispute. (ASA Sections 3.2(d)(i) and 3.3(a))

3. Representation of Canadian, UK and Australian Rightsholders on the Board of the Registry. The Amended Settlement provides that the Board of the Book Rights Registry (the “Registry”) will, at a minimum, have one author and publisher director each from Canada, the UK and Australia. (ASA Section 6.2(b)(ii))

4. Monitoring for Rightsholders Outside the United States. Because the services authorized by the Amended Settlement will be unavailable to users outside the United States, the Registry will, upon request, monitor Google’s use of Books and Inserts to ensure that they conform to the requirements of the Amended Settlement and to Rightsholders’ instructions, and will attempt to provide a means for such Rightsholders themselves to monitor and verify their claimed Books and Inserts. (ASA Section 6.1(f))

5. Dispute Resolution Optional For Rightsholders. The Amended Settlement now provides that Rightsholders may agree not to arbitrate disputes between or among them under the dispute resolution mechanism in the Amended Settlement. In addition, Rightsholders (but not Google) can elect to participate in any arbitration by teleconference or videoconference in order to save travel costs. (ASA Sections 9.1(a) and 9.3(a))

6. Independent Representation For Rightsholders of Unclaimed Books and Inserts. The Registry will include a fiduciary who will have the responsibility for representing the interests of Rightsholders with respect to the exploitation of unclaimed Books and Inserts. (ASA Section 6.2(b)(iii))

7. Unclaimed Books and Inserts and Unclaimed Funds. The Amended Settlement clarifies that, from its inception, the Registry will use settlement funds to attempt to locate Rightsholders. The Amended Settlement also now provides that funds owed to Rightsholders of unclaimed Books and Inserts (“Unclaimed Funds”) will not be used by the Registry for general operations or reserves and will not be distributed to claiming Rightsholders. The Amended Settlement makes the following changes to the Original Settlement: (a) after Unclaimed Funds are held for five years, the Registry, in collaboration with organizations in Canada, the UK and Australia, and in consultation with the fiduciary, may use up to 25% of the funds for the sole purpose of locating Rightsholders; and (b) remaining Unclaimed Funds will be held for the Rightsholders for at least 10 years, after which the Registry, subject to fiduciary approval as to timing, may apply to the Court for permission to distribute Unclaimed Funds to literacy-based charities in the United States, Canada, the UK and Australia, upon notice to Rightsholders, the attorneys general of all states in the United States and Fully Participating and Cooperating Libraries. (ASA Section 6.3)

8. Commitment to Improving Claiming Process and Website. The Amended Settlement provides that the Registry and Google (for as long as Google continues to provide operational support for the Registry) will maintain and improve the Settlement Website to facilitate the claiming of Books and Inserts. Google will also work to correct errors in the Books Database. (ASA Section 13.3)

9. Additional Revenue Models. The Amended Settlement now limits the potential new revenue models to the following three additional Revenue Models, which must be approved by the Registry:

1. Print-on demand (“POD”),
2. File download (formerly “PDF Download”), and
3. Consumer subscription.

The Amended Settlement limits POD, if approved, to Books that are not Commercially Available. In addition, the Amended Settlement specifies that the revenue split between Google and Rightsholders as to the additional Revenue Models will be the same as for the existing Revenue Models.

Finally, the Amended Settlement provides that Rightsholders of claimed works (and the fiduciary for unclaimed works) will be given timely advance notice before an additional Revenue Model is launched, with an opportunity to exclude works from that model. (ASA Section 4.7)

10. Agreeing to Different Revenue Splits for Commercially Available Books. For Commercially Available Books, the Amended Settlement provides that either Google or the Rightsholder will have the ability to request renegotiation of the 63/37 standard revenue split for any or all revenue models. If they cannot reach an agreement, then neither of the parties is obligated to offer the Rightsholder’s Books in the revenue models. (ASA Section 4.5(a)(iii))

11. Discounting off Consumer Purchase List Price. Google will now have an unlimited right to discount the List Price of Books for Consumer Purchase, so long as it continues to pay 63% of the undiscounted List Price to the Registry for Rightsholders. The Registry may also authorize Google to make special offers of Books for Consumer Purchase at reduced prices from the List Price and pay 63% of the discounted List Price to the Registry for Rightsholders. Claiming Rightsholders (and the fiduciary for unclaimed Books), however, will be notified of this reduced price proposal and can disapprove it for their (or unclaimed) Books. (ASA Sections 4.5(b)(i) and (ii))

12. Resale of Consumer Purchase. The Amended Settlement requires that Google allow third parties to sell consumer access to Books offered through Consumer Purchase, with the reseller receiving a majority of Google’s 37% share of the revenue split. (ASA Section 4.5(b)(v))

13. Non-discrimination Clause (i.e., “Most Favored Nations” clause). Section 3.8(a) of the Original Settlement has been eliminated from the Amended Settlement.

14. Settlement Controlled Pricing. The Amended Settlement clarifies that the Pricing Algorithm used to establish the Settlement Controlled Prices for Consumer Purchase will be developed to simulate the prices in a competitive market and that the price for a Book will be established without regard to changes to the price of any other Book. The Amended Settlement also clarifies that the Registry will not disclose the Settlement Controlled Price for a Book to anyone other than the Book’s Rightsholders. (ASA Sections 4.2(b)(i)(2), 4.2(c)(ii)(2) and 4.2(c)(iii))

15. Modification of Feature Restrictions. Rightsholders may authorize Google to modify or remove the Amended Settlement’s default restrictions on Revenue Model features, such as copy/paste and print. (ASA Section 3.3(g))

16. Registry Support for Alternative Licenses (Including Creative Commons). The Amended Settlement provides that the Registry will facilitate Rightsholders’ wishes to allow their works to be made available through alternative licenses for Consumer Purchase, including through a Creative Commons license. For information about Creative Commons licenses, visit http://www.creativecommons.org. The Amended Settlement also clarifies that Rightsholders are free to set the Consumer Purchase price of their Books at zero. (ASA Sections 1.44, 4.2(a)(i) and 4.2(b)(i)(1))

17. Public Access Terminals. The Amended Settlement authorizes the Registry to agree to increase the number of public access terminals at a public library building. (ASA Section 4.8(a)(i)(3))

18. Pictorial Works. The Amended Settlement no longer includes children’s book illustrations in the definition of Inserts. (ASA Section 1.75) The Amended Settlement, however, does not change the inclusion of pictorial works, such as graphic novels and children’s picture books, in the definition of Books and provides that the Amended Settlement only authorizes Google to display the pictorial images in such Books if a U.S. copyright owner of the pictorial image also is a Rightsholder of the Book. The Amended Settlement also clarifies that comic books are considered to be Periodicals and that Periodicals (as well as compilations of Periodicals) are not included in the definition of “Books,” and thus are not in the Amended Settlement. (ASA Section 1.104)

19. Music Notation. The definition of Book was amended in the Amended Settlement to better achieve the parties’ goal of excluding books that are primarily used to play music. (ASA Section 1.19) Also, “music notation” is no longer included in the definition of Inserts. (ASA Section 1.75)

20. Deadline to Claim Usage and Inclusion Fees. Usage Fees will now be held for Rightsholders who have not yet claimed their Books for at least ten years and Rightsholders will now be eligible for Inclusion Fees if they claim their Books or Inserts within ten years of the Effective Date, instead of five years, in both cases as had been provided in the Original Settlement. (Plan of Allocation Sections 1.1(c), 1.2(c) and 2.2)

Your Rights Under the Amended Settlement Agreement

Members of the Amended Settlement Class have the following options:

Rescheduled Date of the Fairness Hearing

The Court will hold a Fairness Hearing on February 18, 2010 at 10 A.M. in Courtroom 11A of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, United States Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, New York, NY 10007, to consider whether the Amended Settlement, as set forth in the ASA, is fair, adequate and reasonable. Please review the original Notice for further information concerning participation in the Fairness Hearing.

If you have any questions concerning this Supplemental Notice or the Amended Settlement, please contact Class Counsel, or the Settlement Administrator, whose contact information may be found in the original Notice or at http://www.googlebooksettlement.com. You may also contact the Settlement Administrator at:

Google Book Search Settlement Administrator
c/o Rust Consulting, Inc.
PO Box 9364
Minneapolis, MN 55440-9364
+1.612.359.8600 (Tolls may apply. Toll-free numbers are available at http://www.googlebooksettlement.com.)

Is this going to be Mac vs PC in reverse? Surely, much as we love the wonderful things Apple is doing, we don’t want to hand the prize over to one company again.

This battle is being fought on two fronts. One is the gadgets themselves. The other is the all-important marketplaces for applications and content that surround them. While we have our own fears about Google’s market power, at least the Android market is open and the Android platform is open source.

This article in TechCrunch from US Whitepages VP of Mobile Kevin Nakao looks at these emerging Android marketplaces and the opportunities around them and should help settle the nerves of early Android supporters.

Nakao admits their own Android app results are pretty mediocre when lined up against the iPhone — just 17% in fact. But he points to several good reasons why this will change, sooner rather than later. Among his points:

• Unlike the iPhone with its single Apple-owned store, the Android marketplace is open. There are more app sellers with more flexibility in what they can offer and how quickly they can get apps and content to the market. This will be good for innovation, says Nakao, and offer more purchase options for consumers.
• Google’s market strategy means Telcos will step up to the plate and offer integrated carrier billing to Android marketplaces. This has the potential to drive revenues strongly as consumers respond to “low friction” purchasing and subscription offers, one of things that Apple, of course, already offers.

Nakao makes several other useful points to support his case. While he uses US market examples, this is a trend that will play out very quickly around the world.

Read the full article in TechCrunch.

The new proposal essentially covers just works from the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Representatives from those countries will be on the board of the Rights Registry that will be formed to record and look after the interests of affected rightsholders whose works have been scanned.

In a blog post announcing the filing, Google Books Engineering Director Dan Clancy wrote:

We’re disappointed that we won’t be able to provide access to as many books from as many countries through the settlement as a result of our modifications, but we look forward to continuing to work with rightsholders from around the world to fulfill our longstanding mission of increasing access to all the world’s books.

Interestingly, many of those from countries excluded from the deal might now be asking themselves, “Why can’t we be in, too?” Perhaps this is part of the clever psychology of the deal, creating an apparent “haves” and “have nots” so that the excluded parties feel obliged to open negotiations with Google.

In Europe, this will probably head off the showdown that was looming with the European Union. And worldwide, the deal might have the positive effect of moving governments and cultural institutions from their slumber to start seriously investing in digitising their written heritage.

From New Zealand’s point of view, as one of the excluded parties, it opens up real opportunities to take control of the process and to do it in a way that is more respectful of rightholders and copyright protections. This should be a spur for the public institutions and the commercial sector to join forces and begin the process of digitising important older,  in-copyright works.

Thanks to TeleRead and Publishers Lunch for the summary of key points below:

The revised Settlement has made a number of important changes:
1. Foreign language works are out: the scope is limited to works registered with the US Copyright Office and books published in Canada, Australia and the U.K. There will be representatives from those countries on the Book Rights Registry board.
2. There will be an independent court-approved fiduciary who will represent rights-holders of unclaimed books and act to protect their interests, including licensing their works.
3. The Books Rights Registry is not required to search for rights-holders who have not come forward.
4. Third parties will be able to sell access to all settlement works, including orphans, even though Google will host the titles.
5. Revenue models have been limited to print on demand, file download and subscriptions.
6. Rights-holders may make their works available for free.
7. The Google’s most favored nation treatment has been eliminated allowing the Registry to license works to third parties without extending the same terms to Google.

See also this New York Times story.