Publishers that thought
Google had scrapped its
plans to digitise the world's libraries had better think
again.
The search giant has
confirmed
on its blog that it will restart scanning "soon" albeit concentrating its
efforts on books that are unique to libraries, including many public domain
books, orphaned works and out-of-print titles.
Google imposed a moratorium on scanning books in August
following complaints by publishers and copyright
holders. The company claimed that it was providing time for copyright holders to
opt out of the programme.
The blog posting said that Google has been successful in working with
independent publishers through an initiative that invites publishers to submit
their work to be indexed.
It also confirmed that the print programme would not allow people to view a
book's entire contents.
"Our digital card catalogue will let people discover these books through
Google search, see their bibliographic information, view short snippets related
to their queries (never the full text), and offer links to places where they can
buy the book or find it in a local library," stated Google.
The Association of
American Publishers (AAP) sued Google on 19 October claiming that it was
infringing copyrights by scanning entire books.
Despite Google's recent assurances, the AAP remains on the offensive. It put
out a statement saying that it will stand by its lawsuit asking that Google not
copy books without the permission of copyright owners.
The AAP filed the suit on behalf of five of its members: the
McGraw-Hill Com
panies, Pearson
Education, Penguin Group
(USA), Simon &
Schuster, and John Wiley
& Sons.
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