Google Print: The Online Library Continues to Grow Despite Copyright Concerns

Although it has recently hit some potholes, Google Print, the Internet-based library developed by search engine giant Google, continues to move ahead with its goal of making the text of thousands of books available and searchable on the Internet. The Google Print program began eight months ago when Google entered into agreements with the University of Michigan, Harvard University, Stanford University, the New York Public Library, and Oxford University to scan all or portions of their collections and make those texts searchable on Google. The program hit a snag when the publishing industry raised concerns about possible copyright infringement. Instead of requesting permission to copy works, Google had originally required publishers to indicate whether they wished to opt out of the Google Print project. In response to these concerns, Google has decided to only scan books not protected by copyright or books that publishers have specifically requested be added to the database. Google has also introduced restrictions on the service such as limiting the amount of a copyright protected work that may be viewed and tracking the books and pages viewed by users. Google has claimed that the service is intended to help people find books – not read entire books online. Consistent with this claim, Google is including "Buy This Book" and "Find This in a Library" links to locations where the book searched can be purchased or borrowed from. Google has announced that revenue generated by ads that appear on Google Print pages will be shared with the publishers of those books. To try Google Print, visit this site: http://print.google.com For more information about the Google Print Publisher Program, see: http://print.google.com/googleprint/publisher.html Summary by: Sue Diaz