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Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel
i'm still not claiming google was not *legally* in the wrong ; it's just that copyright laws don't seem to me deserving of my righteous ire, and i think the google scanning project is a good thing overall, regardless of their motivations and the legality of it, whereas copyright laws need urgently to be drastically reformed (again, making a distinction between law and ethics). yes, as you say they tried to pull a fast one and got caught, and this settlement is an acknowledgement of it... but ironically it seems to me to be a sort of "pot calling the kettle black" situation. the only reason that's the case to begin with is that certain copyright holders (*cough*disney*cough*) pulled a far bigger fast one on *everybody* first, and they *did* get away with it.
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I agree. Copyright laws are ridiculously stringent. I do applaud Google for this effort. Ultimately, having digital copies of all these books is going to benefit society and it's more of an effort than any other group has put forward. What's with the complaint that Google was looking for profit? It's worth noting that Google Books has cost Google much more money than it's made. Even though Google was probably hoping to get to a point at which the project would generate more money than it was taking to support, I don't recall this ever being a vice in the United States. Pardon me if I don't shred any tears because Google isn't a socialist operation. If they were, it'd be a poor excuse for a business model.
OH NOES!!!! GOOGLE IS OUT TO MAKE A PROFIT!!!! VILLAINY!!!! SCANDAL!!!! END OF THE WORLD!!!!