The Social Benefits of the Google Books Settlement

Google’s (GOOG) settlement with authors and publishers to gain copyright licenses over millions of books will expand the underprivileged’s access to information, a group of professors and civil rights advocates argued Thursday.

In a conference call with reporters, a broad group of professors and civil rights leaders said that the important social benefits of the settlement–which would allow Google to make millions of out-of-print books accessible online–are getting lost in the discussion of the settlement, which has drawn a fierce group of critics hoping to block a federal court from approving it.

Google helped arrange the event, which the participants said they called to bring more attention to the settlement’s benefits.

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