Title: Why the Google books settlement is procompetitive
Description: "Although the Google Books Settlement has been criticized as anticompetitive, I conclude that  this critique is mistaken. For out-of-copyright books, the settlement procompetitively expands  output by clarifying which books are in the public domain and making them digitally available for  free. For claimed in-copyright books, the settlement procompetitively expands output by clarifying  who holds their rights, making them digitally searchable, allowing individual digital display and  sales at competitive prices each rightsholder can set, and creating a new subscription product that  provides digital access to a near-universal library at free or competitive rates. For unclaimed incopyright books, the settlement procompetitively expands output by helping to identify rightsholders  and making their books saleable at competitive rates when they cannot be found. The settlement  does not raise rival barriers to offering any of these books, but to the contrary lowers them. The  output expansion is particularly dramatic for out-of-print books, for which there is currently no new  output at all."--John M. Olin Center for Law, Economics, and Business web site.