MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Authors Guild alleges Google's Library Project violates copyrights

Brian · 09-21-2005, 08:34 PM

The Authors Guild, a professional organization for published writers, has filed a class action suit against Google claiming the Google Print Library Project to scan and index the content of books violates copyright laws. From the press release:

The Authors Guild and a Lincoln biographer, a children's book author, and a former Poet Laureate of the United States filed a class action suit today in federal court in Manhattan against Google over its unauthorized scanning and copying of books through its Google Library program. The suit alleges that the $90 billion search engine and advertising juggernaut is engaging in massive copyright infringement at the expense of the rights of individual writers.

In response, Google has gone on the offensive in a post on the Google Blog, which includes in part:

Let's be clear: Google doesn’t show even a single page to users who find copyrighted books through this program (unless the copyright holder gives us permission to show more). At most we show only a brief snippet of text where their search term appears, along with basic bibliographic information and several links to online booksellers and libraries.

Google Print offers readers the ability to find books on subjects and keywords that would otherwise go unnoticed, thereby creating newfound demand for titles gathering dust in the truest sense of the long tail. It's a shame that the Authors Guild is clinging to innovation averse, old modes of thinking to the detriment of their members, the industry, and the readers of the world.

David Rothman at Teleread has more on the subject.

09-21-2005, 08:34 PM	#1
Brian MobileRead Editor Posts: 447 Karma: 84 Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Massachusetts Device: Treo 700p, Zodiac2	Authors Guild alleges Google's Library Project violates copyrights The Authors Guild, a professional organization for published writers, has filed a class action suit against Google claiming the Google Print Library Project to scan and index the content of books violates copyright laws. From the press release: The Authors Guild and a Lincoln biographer, a children's book author, and a former Poet Laureate of the United States filed a class action suit today in federal court in Manhattan against Google over its unauthorized scanning and copying of books through its Google Library program. The suit alleges that the $90 billion search engine and advertising juggernaut is engaging in massive copyright infringement at the expense of the rights of individual writers. In response, Google has gone on the offensive in a post on the Google Blog, which includes in part: Let's be clear: Google doesn’t show even a single page to users who find copyrighted books through this program (unless the copyright holder gives us permission to show more). At most we show only a brief snippet of text where their search term appears, along with basic bibliographic information and several links to online booksellers and libraries. Google Print offers readers the ability to find books on subjects and keywords that would otherwise go unnoticed, thereby creating newfound demand for titles gathering dust in the truest sense of the long tail. It's a shame that the Authors Guild is clinging to innovation averse, old modes of thinking to the detriment of their members, the industry, and the readers of the world. David Rothman at Teleread has more on the subject.