I have seen the term “Google Books” many times in my Library Link of the Day emails, in headlines and blurbs online and on professional discussion boards and listservs to which I belong. Until now, I have not had even a working knowledge of what the project entails except that I knew Google wanted to digitize books and make them available online. “What's wrong with that?” I would think. “Why all the controversy?” Well, those were my shallow-as-a-puddle thoughts prior to having a week's worth of copyright study and reading several articles on the topic. Clearly there is much to be said on this topic as it touches on copyright laws, fair use, author & publisher rights, economics, educational freedom and free exchange of ideas. So now my knowledge is shallow as a pond, but growing deeper everyday. So join me . . . jump on in . . .the water is fine!
History
Google Books, in one incarnation or another, is a project that has been a part of the Google vision since the juggernaut's inception in 1996 according to the History of Google Books. What began as a dream to be able search the world's books page by page has led to a massive digitization effort which began in earnest in 2002 (About Google Book Search). Modeling themselves after other digitization projects such as Project Gutenberg and the Library of Congress' American Memory project, Google Books differs from most other digitization projects that focus primarily on rare, previously unpublished or out-of-print materials. Behemoth Google goes with the usual “Google gusto” for nothing less than a universal card catalog that indexes the world's books. “Our ultimate goal is to work with publishers and libraries to create a comprehensive, searchable, virtual card catalog of all books in all languages that helps users discover new books and publishers discover new readers” (Library Project).
To reach this ambitious goal, Google Books has a multi-pronged attack. They develop partnerships with both libraries and publishers/authors to digitize works to either display in full-text or as card catalog-type entries. By partnering with publishers, Google offers searchable access to in-print items and copyright holders are duly compensated. It is with the library partnerships where Google generates the controversy (Pike, 2009). Under the Library Project, Google would "scan the full text of all books in a library's collection, regardless of copyright status. For those books in the public domain, Google would provide the full text of the book in response to a search request. For those books still under copyright, Google would provide a Snippet View, or a small section of the book that was related to the search terms being used. Google would then provide a link to a bookseller or a library where the book could be purchased or borrowed" (Pike, 2009). Google contends that since only portions of the work are ever shown at one time, even though the entire work has been digitized, this constitutes fair use. The Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers disagreed and filed suit in 2005 for copyright infringement.
History
Google Books, in one incarnation or another, is a project that has been a part of the Google vision since the juggernaut's inception in 1996 according to the History of Google Books. What began as a dream to be able search the world's books page by page has led to a massive digitization effort which began in earnest in 2002 (About Google Book Search). Modeling themselves after other digitization projects such as Project Gutenberg and the Library of Congress' American Memory project, Google Books differs from most other digitization projects that focus primarily on rare, previously unpublished or out-of-print materials. Behemoth Google goes with the usual “Google gusto” for nothing less than a universal card catalog that indexes the world's books. “Our ultimate goal is to work with publishers and libraries to create a comprehensive, searchable, virtual card catalog of all books in all languages that helps users discover new books and publishers discover new readers” (Library Project).
To reach this ambitious goal, Google Books has a multi-pronged attack. They develop partnerships with both libraries and publishers/authors to digitize works to either display in full-text or as card catalog-type entries. By partnering with publishers, Google offers searchable access to in-print items and copyright holders are duly compensated. It is with the library partnerships where Google generates the controversy (Pike, 2009). Under the Library Project, Google would "scan the full text of all books in a library's collection, regardless of copyright status. For those books in the public domain, Google would provide the full text of the book in response to a search request. For those books still under copyright, Google would provide a Snippet View, or a small section of the book that was related to the search terms being used. Google would then provide a link to a bookseller or a library where the book could be purchased or borrowed" (Pike, 2009). Google contends that since only portions of the work are ever shown at one time, even though the entire work has been digitized, this constitutes fair use. The Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers disagreed and filed suit in 2005 for copyright infringement.
In October 2008, a settlement was reached between the two litigants. It provides for the creation of a system where authors and publishers may register their copyrighted material with a Book Rights Registry. Users would be able to view up to 20% of the material online for free, but would have to pay a fee to view the work in its entirety. Google would take 37% of the revenue while the rest would be given to the Book Rights Registry to distribute to the authors and publishers (Pike, 2009).
Now a new controversy comes with books whose copyrights have not expired (so they are not in the public domain), but whose copyright holders cannot be found or identified. These so-called “orphans” would be licensed exclusively to Google with the potential to generate a large amount of revenue and wipe out any type of competition. Critics fear that without competition, or at least better regulation, access fees could skyrocket, jeopardizing the spirit of both copyright law and the scholarly free exchange of ideas.
Other aspects of the settlement have been criticized, as well. Under its terms, Google would be able to sell directly through Google Books, either to individuals per item or to institutions via subscription, with public universities and libraries having free access on a limited number of computer terminals based on patron numbers (Pike, 2009). They could also purchase greater access via Google's multi-tiered pricing structure. Critics fear that combined with Google's copyright control of orphaned works, their pricing of digitized materials would kill all competition. It is this possible violation of antitrust law that the US Justice Department is now investigating (Morrissey, 2009).
The enormity of the project guarantees both complexities and nuances which have generated the controversy surrounding the launch of Google Books. At the heart of the matter is both making sure that copyright holders are compensated adequately for their work and ensuring that Google does not create a monopoly on digitized works, ending competition, driving up fees and stifling the free exchange of ideas and scholarship.
This is a great topic. My initial take on the subject was similar to yours. Google has the global reach, engineering expertise, technology infrastructure, and brand power necessary, perhaps, to expand our universe of knowlege. However, I do see the potential for harm caused by a Google monopoly in digitizing books once they have "cornered the market". If only we could trust that Google would always use its powers for the forces of good! Unfortunately market forces may trump what is best for scholarship and ubiquitious dissemination of knowledge.
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