Googled Books II - Writers Guild to Sue Google
Techweb reports that several writers have commenced a class action suit against Google for Copyright breach of their works. Their main complaint is that Google has failed to obtain their permission for the the digitising of their books. The basis of the action is that Google is intending to digitally copy copyrighted works for commercial purposes without permission or license from the legal owners of the works.
Apparently the Google project is to digitise books from the libraries of Harvard, Stanford, the University of Michigan, the University of Oxford and the New York Public Library. According to Google the project will ultimately provide a searchable catalog of all books in all languages. In its own defence, Google is making the argument that their project is for the greater good. Also, they claim that any copyright owner can request to have their books excluded from the digitising project. The law however enshrine the rule that copyright owners have he right to make copies and anyone making copies must acquire permission from the owners first.
According to Techweb, Google however is not without a defence. In the US, there was a case in 2003 - Kelly vs. Arriba Soft Corp., where it was held that displaying thumbnail images of a protected is not a breach but fair use. Similarly that case can substantiate Google's claim that only selective pages of digitised books will be made available online for users to view and read.
In my view, Kelly v Arriba does not provide Google with a rock solid defence. In that case, the defendant created thumbnails and retained only thumbnails - a minature of the originals and they do not have the full detail of the original. As long as they do not retain nor use the full version of the images, they did not commit any breach. Google however, intends to digitise complete books and retain copies of these books in its database. It is inconsequential that only a few pages is made available online to the public. The fact that they physically copy whole books and digitise them is a clear breach of the rights accorded to copyright owners.
Having said that, it would be wonderful to see very rare works made available for the world to see, read and enjoy. This is yet another case of how new technologies challenges the rights accorded by old laws that needs structural change to balance the needs of authors and creators and public interest.
TechWeb News Writers Guild Confident In Suing Google
Apparently the Google project is to digitise books from the libraries of Harvard, Stanford, the University of Michigan, the University of Oxford and the New York Public Library. According to Google the project will ultimately provide a searchable catalog of all books in all languages. In its own defence, Google is making the argument that their project is for the greater good. Also, they claim that any copyright owner can request to have their books excluded from the digitising project. The law however enshrine the rule that copyright owners have he right to make copies and anyone making copies must acquire permission from the owners first.
According to Techweb, Google however is not without a defence. In the US, there was a case in 2003 - Kelly vs. Arriba Soft Corp., where it was held that displaying thumbnail images of a protected is not a breach but fair use. Similarly that case can substantiate Google's claim that only selective pages of digitised books will be made available online for users to view and read.
In my view, Kelly v Arriba does not provide Google with a rock solid defence. In that case, the defendant created thumbnails and retained only thumbnails - a minature of the originals and they do not have the full detail of the original. As long as they do not retain nor use the full version of the images, they did not commit any breach. Google however, intends to digitise complete books and retain copies of these books in its database. It is inconsequential that only a few pages is made available online to the public. The fact that they physically copy whole books and digitise them is a clear breach of the rights accorded to copyright owners.
Having said that, it would be wonderful to see very rare works made available for the world to see, read and enjoy. This is yet another case of how new technologies challenges the rights accorded by old laws that needs structural change to balance the needs of authors and creators and public interest.
TechWeb News Writers Guild Confident In Suing Google
posted by Harry SK Tan at
9/22/2005 07:35:00 pm
1 comments
1 Comments:
Google has just created a webpage to convey to the public its views as to the Writer's Guild legal action. To view it, copy and past the following link:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/09/google-print-and-authors-guild.html
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