Quote:
Originally Posted by murraypaul
The purpose is commercial though, Google aren't doing this for the good of humanity, but for their own commercial gain. In the same way that MegaUpload/TPB/etc... didn't make money directly from enabling infringement, but did make money from the advertising revenue driven by allowing the infringement.
That is a reasonable point.
Although I'm pretty certain their end goal is to sell copies of books that are otherwise not available.
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I agree, Google is doing this because it allows them to sell more ads. That's the reason they offer anything for free. However, their motivation is only one factor (if it's a factor at all) in the determination of a fair use defense. Prior to Google and the Authors Guild signing an ill-fated settlement agreement, the case was set to answer some very fundamental legal questions about fair use in the digital era.
We can argue about whether what Google is doing is fair use, but neither of us can easily say whether or not it's copyright infringement because it's not clear one way or the other.
Personally, I don't care what Google's motivation was if the result is broader access to knowledge for me and the potential for more money for authors.