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Google Faces Second Publisher Suit
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) joins the lawsuit frenzy over Google's Print for Libraries project today after Google "flatly rejected" the association's proposal that the search engine utilize the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) to identify works in copyright.
The AAP, representing five major publishers including The McGraw-Hill Companies, Pearson Education, Penguin Group (USA), Simon & Schuster and John Wiley & Sons, adds its action to the Authors Guild's class action suit filed against Google last month.
Google Print for Libraries is a massive effort to digitize every page of English-language literature and make it accessible via search. The project is estimated to cost Google $200 million over the next 10 years to finish. Books in the public domain (published before 1922) will be made in their entirety online, while works still in copyright will be represented by snippets surrounding a search term with a link to where the literature can be purchased or borrowed.
Google offered publishers and authors an "opt out" option for those wishing not to participate. Otherwise, scanning would proceed on schedule with the help of the University of Michigan, Stanford University, the New York Public Library, Harvard, and Oxford. The New York Public Library and Oxford have both offered only works in the public domain.
The AAP says the scanning project is inherently a violation of authors' and publishers' right to control the publication of their works, especially as Google stands to make considerable profit from the program.
"The publishing industry is united behind this lawsuit against Google and united in the fight to defend their rights," said AAP President and former Colorado Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder.
"While authors and publishers know how useful Google's search engine can be and think the Print Library could be an excellent resource, the bottom line is that under its current plan Google is seeking to make millions of dollars by freeloading on the talent and property of authors and publishers."
Negotiations broke down when Google rejected the association's proposal that the ISBN number system, established in 1967, be used to identify copyrighted works and secure permission from publishers and authors to scan these works. The AAP says Google's rejection left them no choice but to sue.
The AAP voiced support for Yahoo!'s team effort with Hewlett-Packard, Adobe, and Internet Archive to create their own version of the Library project, called the "Open Content Alliance."
David Drummond, Google's Vice President of Corporate Development and General Counsel, told WebProNews that despite publishers' objections, the project is covered under fair use and copyright law.
"Google Print is an historic effort to make millions of books easier for people to find and buy. Creating an easy to use index of books is fair use under copyright law and supports the purpose of copyright: to increase the awareness and sales of books directly benefiting copyright holders," said Drummond.
"This short-sighted attempt to block Google Print works counter to the interests of not just the world's readers, but also the world's authors and publishers."
Google's main support for indexing copyrighted material comes from precedents set from Kelly vs. ArribaSoft, where an image search engine won the favor of the court after an artist sued on similar grounds.
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About the Author:
Jason L. Miller is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.
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Jason Lee Miller
