Book Trade Seeks a Deal With Google for Copyright Breach

(sources:http://www.images.google.com.my)

Google as the world’s most comprehensive search engine, has been facing copyright controversy. Previously, Google wanted to retrieve books from university libraries such as Harvard, Oxford and the New York Public Library, scan them and make the full texts available on the Google search engine (Toobin 2007). Hence, these leads to some copyright holders unhappy and decided to sue Google for copyright breach. According to CNet News (2009), Publishing group Le Martiniere is suing Google for "counterfeiting and breach of intellectual property rights" over the controversial book scanning and digitization project. Subsequenly, France's National Publishers' Union (SNE), which represents 400 publishers, has threatened legal action against Google over the project and publishers in the United Kingdom also have criticized Google over the plan. (CNet News, 2009). Furthermore, In the United States, the Google project faces two copyright-related lawsuits from author and publisher groups, who claim that scanning copyright protected books and making them searchable online violates their copyright. (CNet News, 2009).

Apparently, Google might deal with a continuous issue of breaching copyright. According to OUT_LAW News (2006) stated that the author and lawyer Blake Field ‘brought an action for copyright infringement, arguing that Google cache feature allowed web users to access copies of his copyrighted material’. Due to our knowledge, breaching copyright is considered a serious infringement. This is clarified by Reep (2006, p. 41) who points out that ‘it is illegal to violate the creator’s copyright by using these works for your own benefit without getting permission and paying the appropriate fees’.

Apart from the copyright issue, Google has become the world’s best search engine and the most frequently visited Web site for searches due to its popularity. Nielsen (2006) argues that ‘people have begun using search engines as answer engines to directly access what they want – often without truly engaging with the websites that provide,and pay for the services’. In my opinion, Google still is my favorite searching engine to help me find some essential information, images, and also some high quality article for my school assignment. Nevertheless, it is essential for Google to resolve their copyright issue from copyright holder to seek for their permission before Google published their books.

References:
Cnet, N, 2009, ‘Google Book project gets reprieve in Germany’ CBS Interactive Inc, viewed 11 November 2009,
<http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-6089897-7.html>

Nielsen, J 2006, ‘Search engines as leeches on the web’, Useit.com, viewed 11 November 2009,
<http://www.useit.com/alertbox/search_engines.html>.

OUT-LAW News, 2006, ‘Google cache does not breach copyright, says court’, viewed 11 November 2009,
<http://www.out-law.com/page-6571>.

Reep, DC 2006, Technical writing: principles, strategies, and readings, 6th edn, Pearson Education, Inc., New York

Toobin, J 2007, ‘Google’s moon shot: the quest for the universal library’, New Yorker 5 February, viewed 11 Novmeber 2009, <http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/02/05/070205fa_fact_toobin>