Found on BoingBoing: The Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA), the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA), and the National Writers Union (NWU) are holding a joint workshop on January 20th in New York City about what the Google Books settlement will mean to writers.
We have mentioned the SFWA’s strong opposition to the settlement in the past. (The SFWA has also historically taken a hard line on digital infringement, issuing a mistakenly broad DMCA takedown notice in 2007 and then reinstating the man responsible, Andrew Burt, as chairman of its Electronic Piracy Committee.) The ASJA and NWU have similarly opposed the settlement.
It is doubtful the workshop will have any interest in presenting a neutral, balanced point of view, but it could be very interesting nonetheless. Admission is free, but the organizers ask that attendees RSVP ahead of time. Might any TeleRead contributors in the area be interested?
It would be good to have a rep from Google there – or a neutral party to give the discussion a better framework. I think this will be one sided.
“It is doubtful the workshop will have any interest in presenting a neutral, balanced point of view,…”
Since to my knowledge Google and the Author’s Guild have never given writers any event that allowed for other POVs, much less a full debate format, I wouldn’t worry about this. This workshop is balance for all those settlement proponents have funded.
Most of us don’t live in NYC, so let’s hope they post video and audio of this workshop.
There will also be a parallel West Coast educational event for writers in Berkeley on Friday, Jan. 22:
http://www.nwubook.org/NWU-GBS2-events.html
Both programs will be recorded, and there are plans to make them available as audio podcasts as well as hold a conference call for at-large and other NWU members who still have questions. (A live webcast of the New York City event may be possible, but is not yet confirmed.)
FYI, Paul Aiken of the Authors Guild is scheduled to speak at the workshop in NYC. That should contribute to the “balance.”