Japanese Writers Said No to the Kurofune of Google Book Search

As reported by Mercury Project Office, 180 Japanese writers including Shuntaro Tanigawa announced to refuse Google Book Search settlement scheme on April 30.

Tanigawa is a famous poet and known for his activities for copyright protection. They says "We have impression Google is public". However they are upset and say "they are arrogance". Also 2,197 writers want to join the settlement while they do not want delete their works from Google's database. It looks like a signal not to trust the service.

Writers don't understand the settlement when they accuse Google of the "arrogance". Google doesn't respond because they are prohibited by law. It's up to the administrator of the settlement. The bureau chief of the American Writers Association, who came to Japan this week, said the settlement is favorable to copyright holders because it enables to monetize out-of-print books.

Japanese writers say this is the "Kurofune (Black Ships) of copyright" that invade Japan. However, the Kurofune, which came to Japan 150 years ago, didn't invade Japan but wanted to open the country for western countries. The Tokugawa government opened Japan and the Meiji government reformed it. That's why Japan wasn't colonized by western countries. Now Japanese writers seem more ignorant than our ancestors.