Bibliofemme News
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26/09/2005
Authors sue Google over book archival
A writers' group in America is suing Google over plans to digitise major library book collections, alleging that the move amounts to massive copyright infringement.
The lawsuit, filed by the Authors Guild in the US district court in Manhattan, represents more than 8,000 US writers.
The Google Print Library programme intends on spending US$200 million over the next ten years to creating a digital archive of millions of books from four top US libraries at Stanford, Michigan and Harvard universities and the New York Public Library.
Google is also scanning public domain works - material no longer protected by copyright - stored at the New York Public Library and Oxford University.
According to The Guardian, spokesman for Google said the company regretted that the Authors Guild had decided to sue rather than continue discussions.
"Google Print directly benefits authors and publishers by increasing awareness of and sales of the books in the programme," a statement from Google said.
"Only small portions of the books are shown unless the content owner gives permission to show more."
"This is a plain and brazen violation of copyright law," said Nick Taylor, president of the New York-based Authors Guild.
"It's not up to Google or anyone other than the authors, the rightful owners of these copyrights, to decide whether and how their works will be copied."
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