Google Pauses Library Project

At a time when other competitors are beginning to start this, Google will temporarily stop scanning copyright-protected books from libraries into its database. The Google Print Library Project was launched last December, and has come under fire from several groups, including publishers, who object to what they claim are violations of their copyrights.

On a blog posting on its company/project blog, Google said that this was done following discussions with “publishers, publishing industry organizations and authors,” and it will stop scanning in copyright-protected until November, while it makes changes to its program.

John Blossom: “It’s kind of amusing that publishers have left this opportunity as fallow ground until Google decided to plow it, so the ruckus they’ve raised about the scanning program is in some ways far less about copyright per se and more about publishers awakening to the opportunities for books online rather late in the game.”

Related:

Publishers Want 6-Month Repreive From Google Print

German Publishers Plan Challenge to Google Print

Scholarly Publishers Take on Google

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