Google’s ambitious book digitalization plan sounds very amusing to many users: especially as students it would be exciting if we could reach to every book that has been published through online.
‘Five years ago Google began scanning millions of print book titles and making them accessible online through Google search. The only problem was copyright: so many authors and publishers sued Google, (ABC Radio, 2009). In an out-of-court settlement, it was agreed that Google pay authors and publishers $60 for each book digitized, as well as 63 per cent of all revenue it earns from the sale of online books. In return, Google will be protected against copyright infringement, (ABC Radio 2009). For works under copyright protection, the user will see the bibliographic information as well as a few text "snippets" around the search term, unless the publisher has given Google permission to display more text, (Hanratty, 2005).
Google has implemented an "opt-out" approach, in which copyright holders must notify Google if they do not want their work included in Google's searchable library database, (Proskine 2006, p.219). “Google believes such an approach to copyright should apply in the Google Library Project because trudging through millions of works and requesting permission title-by-title would be unwieldy and would generate prohibitive transaction costs.” (Proskine 2006, p.219).
Source: www.wired.com : Google settlement with authors and publishers: goes some way toward drawing a road map for a possible digital future for publishers and authors, who worried that they were losing control over how their works were used online, as the music industry has: approximately seven million books that Google has already scanned, four million to five million are out of print,(Helft & Rich 2008).
As print books are difficult to locate, transport, difficult to share and expensive: Google’s project provide the easy access to previously unreachable books. ‘A new study on students and technology by the Educause Center for Applied Research found that 94.6 percent of students use the library’s website at least once a week, Project Information Literacy found that nine out of 10 college students surveyed turned to libraries “for online scholarly research databases, (American Library Association 2010, p.ii).
In my opinion Google’s Book digitalization project not only benefits the consumers but also provides greater benefits for authors and publisher to be recognized around the world. “The Google Library Project advances the public interest by making information globally accessible regardless of a user's income, geographic location, and proximity to a library. In this way, it facilitates progress in science and the arts. The Project also simultaneously drives publishers' incentives to create by increasing their profits based on increased exposure to book titles. Thus, the Google Library Project is consistent with copyright law and deserves legislative consideration.” (Proskine 2006, p.239).
References:
- ABC Radio, 10 July 2009, ‘Publishers and Google book deal’, The Book Show, viewed 5 November 2010, < http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bookshow/stories/2009/2622177.htm>
- American Library Association (ALA), April 2010, ‘ The State of America’s Libraries-2010’, viewed 5 November 2010, <http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/mediapresscenter/americaslibraries/index.cfm>
- Hanratty, E 2005, ‘GOOGLE LIBRARY: BEYOND FAIR USE?’, Duke Law & Technology Review, viewed 5 November 2010, < http://www.law.duke.edu/journals/dltr/articles/2005dltr0010.html>
- Helft, M & Rich, M 2008, ‘ Google Settles Suit Over Book-Scanning’, The New York Times, viewed 5 November 2010, <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/29/technology/internet/29google.html?scp=1&sq=e%20settlement.%20%E2%80%9COn%20the%20one%20hand,%20one%20admires%20all%20of%20Google%E2%80%99s%20inventions,%E2%80%9D%20Rick%20Prelinger,%20board%20president&st=cse>
- Proskine, EA 2006, ‘ Google’s Technicolor Dreamcoat: A Copyright Analysis of the Google Book Search Library Project’, Berkeley technology law journal, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 213-239.
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