By Laura Sydell, NPR
http://www.npr.org/2012/09/18/161324684/googles-digital-library-plan-hits-another-snag
Google’s plan to create the world’s largest digital library ran into
legal problems when groups of authors sued, to defend the rights to
their work. If that sounds like an old news story, that’s because it is.
The lawsuit, now in its 11th year, has run into yet another legal
delay.
When Google
set out to scan the world’s books, it was ostensibly for high-minded
reasons. In an interview a few years ago, co-founder Sergey Brin told me
it was part of Google’s grand mission to make all the world’s
information searchable. He didn’t want to wait because books can be lost
at any moment.
Hopefully, this lawsuit will be resolved before the
Internet is ancient. Since 2004, Google has been fighting with the
Authors Guild. The Guild claims the company can’t scan books without
getting permission from the author. Yesterday, a judge put the case on
hold while Google appeals the right of the Authors Guild to bring a
class action.
U.C. Berkeley law professor Pam Samuelson says Google is confident enough to keep scanning:
But the sense that I have, from talking to people, is that maybe they have slowed down a little bit.
But
that may also be because Google has reportedly already scanned some 20
million books, now safe from fires – even if the public can’t access
them.