Google Puts Library Search Project On Hold

by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York

16 August 2005

Google announced last Thursday that it is bringing its Google Print program to a temporary halt, in order to address copyright concerns.

In December 2004, the search portal announced plans to scan portions of the library collections of Harvard University, Stanford University, the University of Michigan, the New York Public Library and Oxford University.

The service is designed to allow Google's users to search and view the full text of content which is in the public domain, and a few sentences of copyrighted material.

However, concerns have been raised by some publishing firms and authors that this represents an infringement of their copyright.

The company explained last week on its blog that:

"In October 2004 we announced a program called Google Print, a way for publishers to make their books discoverable by the millions of people who search on Google every day. Shortly thereafter, we added a complementary program to help find all books more easily by partnering with libraries to index their collections too. The goal of Google Print is ambitious: to make the full text of all the world's books searchable by anyone. These books are hard to find now, and for most of them, no full-text search exists. We think that making books easier to find will have a positive impact on the world, and we welcome the challenge."

"As with many ambitious ideas, Google Print has sparked a healthy amount of discussion. And we've been listening. Over the last few months, we’ve been talking with numerous publishers, publishing industry organizations and authors about our Google Print Publisher Program and Google Print Library Project."

The blog entry went on to highlight two new features that reflect the discussions and are designed to improve both programs, announcing that:

"If you’re in the Publisher Program (or you decide to join it), you can now give us a list of the books that, if we scan them at a library, you’d like to have added immediately to your account. This way you can have your books in Google Print, which will put them into Google.com search results, direct potential buyers to your website, provide ongoing reports about user interest in your books, and your books will also earn revenue from contextual advertising – even if they are out of print."

"We think most publishers and authors will choose to participate in the publisher program in order to introduce their work to countless readers around the world. But we know that not everyone agrees, and we want to do our best to respect their views too. So now, any and all copyright holders – both Google Print partners and non-partners – can tell us which books they’d prefer that we not scan if we find them in a library. To allow plenty of time to review these new options, we won’t scan any in-copyright books from now until this November."

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