Concepts: Ethical publishing
principles-piracy & file sharing sites; copyright regulations & fair
use
A court wrangling between Google and a group of American
publishers on the formation of web-based library has reached a settlement after
7 years (Harris 2012). Google has been granted permission to carry on with its
initial plan, which is to digitise the libraries of 7 major universities
(Harris 2012). This issue was brought up by several publishers such as McGraw
Hill, Simon and Schuster, John Wiley & Sons and Pearson Education Inc and
Penguin Group (USA) to the courts complaining for a copyright infringement
(Harris 2012). The publishers were afraid that Google library project would badly
affect their business as most of the users would prefer reading it online
instead of buying from them (Harris 2012). The settlement has been announced by
the court today disclosed that publishers have the right to refuse allowing
their books to go online or remove from the digital library (Harris 2012).
Google also promised to make only 20% of any book browsable and whole book are
sellable online (Harris 2012). Tom Allen and David Drummond who are the
president of the Association of American Publishers and the web giant's chief
legal officer respectively show satisfaction towards the result announced by
the court (Harris 2012).
According to (Your Right 2008) copyright
is enforced under law that permission is needed from the owner before using
their work, copyright gives you ownership over the things that you develop. I
think that Google should not neglect the right of the copyright holder at the
first place. The convenience of searching information or books online resulted
in the reduction of purchasing power of online users on books, they would
rather browse it for free instead of buying, this reduces their income source.
The court is practicing a concept of fair use in copyright law in the latest
settlement. According to Masnick (2011), fair use is about strengthening the
copyright, making it more flexible to bend rather than breaking it; Which if the
content of the books are used in a socially useful ways it fits the purpose of
copyright law. Therefore, Google now provide a platform for people to browse
books online, download will only be available if it has been purchased by the
users. A win-win situation has been cultivated as the copyright holders are
respected at the same time giving them motivations to produce more books.
Reference
List
Harris, P 2012, ‘Google
reaches Library Project settle in court case with publishers’, The Guardian, viewed 9 June 2013, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/oct/04/google-library-project-settlement-court-case-publishers>.
Masnick, M 2011, ‘Fair
Use Doesn't Weaken Copyright Law, It Strengthens It’, TechDirt, viewed 12th June 2012, <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110518/12090114324/fair-use-doesnt-weaken-copyright-law-it-strengthens-it.shtml
>.
Your Rights 2008, Meaning of Copyright, viewed 9 June
2013, <http://www.yourrights.org.uk/yourrights/right-of-free-expression/copyright-and-allied-property-rights/meaning-of-copyright.html>.
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