bad news for free books readers ;-(((

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/12/AR2005081201694.html?referrer=email&referrer=email
Google Delays Book Scanning
Copyright Concerns Slow Project

By Yuki Noguchi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 13, 2005; Page D01

Google Inc. has suspended some of its project to place a vast selection of
books online, bowing at least temporarily to concerns of publishers who
fear scanning material into the world's most powerful search engine will
lead to unauthorized use and duplication of copyrighted material.

Google launched its test service, Google Print, in October and later
started its Google Print Library Project, an attempt to scan books in five
libraries to make them searchable online. Mountain View, Calif.-based
Google postponed further scanning of copyrighted books from libraries at
Harvard University, the University of Michigan and Stanford University
until November. Until then, copyright holders can opt out of the scanning
by contacting Google directly, the company said.



The New York Public Library and Oxford University, which also partnered
with Google, have agreed only to share a limited number of materials,
including books no longer protected by copyright.

"We think most publishers and authors will choose to participate in the
publisher program in order to introduce their work to countless readers
around the world," Google Print product manager Adam M. Smith said in a
posting on the company's official Web log. "But we know that not everyone
agrees, and we want to do our best to respect their views too. So now, any
and all copyright holders . . . can tell us which books they'd prefer that
we not scan if we find them in a library," Smith wrote in his posting.

Some books are already viewable at other online sites. Web-based retailer
Amazon.com, for example, allows prospective buyers to read the first
several pages of some books. To put that content online, Amazon negotiates
deals with the publisher or author. Google's search service would only
allow users to look up several sentences in copyrighted materials, not the
entire book.

"What we're doing here is completely in line with the principles of fair
use," Smith said in an interview. "We think this will help more users
discover their books, and buy their books."

But publishers say Google has pushed the online boundary much further,
rewriting copyright law by scanning in books in their entirety and putting
the burden of copyright protection on authors and publishing houses to
contact Google if they do not want their items searchable online.

"We think they have to stop this entirely," said Patricia S. Schroeder,
president and chief executive of the American Association of Publishers,
which represents more than 300 publishers. International publishers are
equally concerned about having to opt out of having their materials put
online, she said. "This idea that the rights holder has all the burden . .
.. that's crazy," she said, adding that her group has been trying since June
to privately negotiate an alternative solution with Google.

Google, which through mapping, video and image products aims to make most
of the world searchable online, said it is trying to balance its lofty
goals with fairness to the copyright holders.

"The goal of Google Print is ambitious: to make the full text of all the
world's books searchable by anyone," Smith said in his posting. "These
books are hard to find now, and for most of them, no full-text search
exists. We think that making books easier to find will have a positive
impact on the world."

That intention is worth pursuing, said David Sohn, staff counsel at the
Center for Democracy and Technology, a digital policy think tank.

"It's an example of how the Internet offers a lot of great new
opportunities for disseminating information, and it is important to resolve
those [copyright] issues so we really take advantage of those
opportunities," Sohn said.

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cheers
pluto
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