Google Sued For Copyright Breach

An example of some of the hand scans caught on Google books.
(Source: http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/book-scans-reveal-googles-handiwork/2007/12/06/1196812901631.html)


As the world’s most comprehensive search engine, Google has been facing copyright controversy. An article ‘Google’s Moon Shot: The Quest for The Universal Library’ which was featured on The New Yorker on 5 February 2007 reported that, publishers sued Google for breaching copyright. In the article, Google wanted to retrieve books from university libraries such as Harvard, Oxford and the New York Public Library, scan them and make the full texts available on the Google search engine (Toobin 2007). Because of this intention, two plaintiffs including several writers and the Authors Guild, and publishers who are also partners in Google Book Search, made an objection against the library component of the project in regard to an infringement of the copyright law.

Google might have dealt with a seemingly endless issue of breaching copyright. In discussing the issue in relation to copyright (OUT-LAW News 26 January 2006), it was reported that author and lawyer Blake Field ‘brought an action for copyright infringement, arguing that Google cache feature allowed web users to access copies of his copyrighted material’. As we know, breaching copyright is considered to be a violation. This is clarified by Reep (2006, p. 41) who points out that ‘it is illegal to violate the creator’s copyright by using these works for your own benefit without getting permission and paying the appropriate fees’.

We all know that Google has become the world’s best search engine and the most frequently visited Web site for searches. Because of its popularity, we often hear people refer to ‘google’ as ‘search for it on the Internet’. Nielsen (2006) argues that ‘people have begun using search engines as answer engines to directly access what they want – often without truly engaging with the websites that provide (and pay for) the services’. Nevertheless, Google will still be my favourite search engine to help me find out some information and do my school assignments on which I always rely. Furthermore, Google’s search engine service is free and easy to use, and usually offers relevant results and information for a given search term. However, it is probably necessary for Google to ensure that the copyright holders give permission for scanning their books from some libraries before continuing the project.



References

Nielsen, J 2006, ‘Search engines as leeches on the web’, 9 January, Useit.com, viewed 9 June 2006, <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/search_engines.html>.

OUT-LAW News 26 January 2006, ‘Google cache does not breach copyright, says court’, viewed 8 June 2008, <http://www.out-law.com/page-6571>.

Reep, DC 2006, Technical writing: principles, strategies, and readings, 6th edn, Pearson Education, Inc., New York.

Toobin, J 2007, ‘Google’s moon shot: the quest for the universal library’, New Yorker 5 February, viewed 7 June 2008, <http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/02/05/070205fa_fact_toobin>.