Google Offers Compromise, But Pubs Say It's Not Enough

by Steven Zeitchik, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 8/12/2005

Google says it's making changes that will accomodate publishers objecting to its Google Print for Libraries program, the biggest of which is that it will allow publishers not to participate. Publishers, however, were not appeased.

Essentially, the company is making the program an opt-out instead of an opt-in, allowing houses who contact them about Google Print for Libraries to pull books. (Earlier, the firm had said that all books would be a part of it regardless of publisher preference, in part because only snippets of these works were being made available.)

The company's Adam Smith, senior business product manager for Google Product and Google Scholar, said Google "still maintains that legally this isn't something that's required" but is doing this "in the interest of balancing the needs of publishers and users."

But the AAP, one of the key opponents to the program, objected, with president Pat Schroeder saying in a statement that "Google's announcement does nothing to relieve the publishing industry's concerns.” The reason, she said, is precisely because this is an opt-out. “Google’s procedure shifts the responsibility for preventing infringement to the copyright owner rather than the user, turning every principle of copyright law on its ear,” she said.

Google also announced that it would allow publishers to "uplift" to Google Print from Google for Libraries—basically, to join Google Print more easily. Both moves come out of negotiations between publisher advocacy groups and the search-engine outfit.

But the discussions are far from over. Many publishers continue to say that the model for Google P for L, though superficially similar to libraries, copies books without permission and could lead to everything from piracy to bad precedent. They say the defense that only snippets are being made available is irrelevant. "The question is really do we have control," said one prominent activist, adding that it was made worse by the fact that a key to GP was that it is based on negotiations with publishers while G for L was not.

Given the divergence of views, it's unlikely this will be resolved soon—or without legal action. Smith said that "I was a little surprised by the reaction to Google Print for libraries," given its potential impact. "We feel that we're constructing a program that provides benefits to publishers at no cost and that it will really aid indiscovery and increase usage and sales."

For his part, the activist said that, "These guys assigned themselves the job of undertaking the job of creating a card-catalog library for the whole world. That doesn't give them a broad license to do whatever they think is appropriate."

This article originally appeared in the August 12, 2005 issue of PW Daily. For more information about PW Daily, including a sample and subscription information, click here »

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