In an email yesterday, the Authors Guild disclosed the individual pay-outs that writers would receive from Google for scanning 7 million books: they will earn between $60 and $300 for each book scanned by the company.
Today Gawker posted a copy of the email. As GalleyCat reported, Google struck a $125 million settlement with the Authors Guild last year, which included $45 million for authors and publishers.
Gawker editorialized about the email: “The Authors Guild didn’t … explain how a purported $125 million settlement only includes $45 million in author and publisher payments; it offered instead a rosy summation of the lengthy settlement agreement. If authors had any doubts about the weak and declining economics of their profession, their guild’s crowing about such a paltry payout should put them to rest.”