Google Book Project Tries to Placate the Critics: Will It Be Enough?
What emerged was an agreement that expressly authorized Google to keep copying books without the remotest connection to the University of Michigan library, such as books never published in the United States but included in the collections of other U.S. universities.
The Original Settlement authorized Google to make books available in a variety of commercial contexts, provided that the bulk of the profit was given to a newly formed “Book Rights Registry,” which would distribute the funds to (or for the benefit of) authors and publishers. For example, out-of-print books could be made available in their entirety in the form of .pdf downloads for a fee. The Original Settlement also authorized Google and the Registry to agree upon future forms of commercialization not specifically mentioned in the Original Settlement.