Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Google reaches Library Project settlement in court case with publishers


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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