Submission + - M$ Funds Publisher's Lawsuits Vrs Google Books (wired.com)
The $125 million deal gives Google the right to store digital copies of the books, include them in its search results, sell online versions and license its book-scans to libraries. It also allows millions of "orphan" works (books still under copyright but whose copyright-holders can't be found) to be included in Google's program.
The only obstacle remaining for the settlement to take effect is final court approval.... [it is not] surprising that at least one party nudging its way into the settlement is an internet-issues-oriented group from New York Law School. But what does raise an eyebrow is the source of New York Law's funding on this matter: Microsoft.
This is especially interesting given M$'s proven inability to make money with books. The Wired article goes on to expose curious grants to law schools favorable to M$'s positions on various issues. So goes the war on sharing and universal access to knowledge."