The Author's Guild copyright infringement lawsuit filed last week against Google and its Google Library project surprised few in the publishing industry. Given what publishers consider to be Google's intransigence regarding fair use and copyright, industry members have predicted that the only way the copyright issue would be resolved is through a lawsuit.
Ever since Google announced the library scanning initiative earlier this year, publishers and authors have been frustrated by what they view as Google's cavalier attitude toward copyright. Google executives have been equally frustrated by what they see as publishers' refusal to subscribe to its vision of how to make all information easily accessible. In recent weeks, Google has made it clear that if it is to attain its goal of making all information searchable, it would need to have access to more books than will be supplied by publishers through the Google Print project. Libraries, with their millions of volumes, were a natural place to turn.
Although the infringement suit was filed by authors, the issues raised by the complaint are backed by publishers, as evidenced by messages of support for the authors made by both the AAP and the AAUP last week. Publishers and authors have deep concerns that if Google Library proceeds as planned, it would set a dangerous precedent that could cost them control of copyright in many ways. As one author's representative said, if the University of Michigan goes ahead with its plan to share its file of a text scanned by Google with other libraries, "we would lose the whole academic market."
The security of the scanned files is another problem. While Google has assured publishers that their files would be safe from hackers, not all are convinced. "Credit card information was supposed to be safe, and look what's happened with that," one publisher said. "What happens if a disgruntled Google employee walks out the door with 200,000 book files?"
Publishers have also been angered by the lack of communication with Google. The two parties have not been in touch with each other since early August, when Google announced it would stop scanning copyrighted books until November 1 and said that publishers could opt out of the scanning project. "We would be very glad to see a dialogue resume," said AAP spokesperson Judy Platt. "It would be best for all of us."
