Quote:
Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer
Actually, it's not clear that it's illegal. Google has a fairly compelling fair use defense.
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The four standard factors to be considered in a fair use defense are:
1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
Here:
1. The use is of a commercial nature. Google want to sell the scanned books, and also to use them to drive more page views, and hence more advertising.
2. The works are 'normal' works that have previously, and may still be, commercially available.
3. Google is scanning the entirety of each work.
4. Google making the work available must significantly reduce the value of the ebook rights of the work.
Doesn't seem like there is a huge amount of wiggle room there.