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Re: Yahoo aims to build its own online library

They did do this, and most publishers said yes. Then they went to the
five notable libraries, bypassing the publishers, and said, We will do
this without the publishers' permission, but they can always opt out
later. FURTHERMORE, we plan to leave a copy of the scanned text with the
libraries to use as they see fit. To which publishers said, How's that
again? As the LIBRARIES see fit? Isn't this fair use stuff getting out
of control?

I don't know what constitutes fair use; only a court can determine that. I do know that most publishers have proceeded with the assumption that
fair use does not cover what Google and the libraries are doing. So this
looks like a lawsuit. And Google knew this when they started the program
(after all, one of the libraries refused to hand over any titles covered
by copyright), so Google Print for Libraries has to be viewed as a planned
legal battle over fair use.

When you read about Google, you always hear that Google's principal
competitors are Microsoft and Yahoo. But it seems to me that the
principal competition are companies like Reed Elsevier, Random House,
McGraw Hill, Thomson, etc. Google's business model requires that content
be indexable on the Internet, but most--not all, certainly, but most--of
the good content is under copyright (85% of all books ever published were
published since 1923 and hence may be protected by copyright). In other
words, if Google can't push back the fair use border, it will be left to
index the content of secondary value. I really am not taking sides in
this (leave it to the courts), but it is wrong to think of Google as a
bunch of nice young billionaires, and publishers and the Authors' Guild as
out-of-date grasping SOBs. This is a clash of economic interests, period.

Joe Esposito


----- Original Message ----- From: "Margaret Landesman" <margaret.landesman@library.utah.edu>
To: <liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 12:34 PM
Subject: Yahoo aims to build its own online library

I wonder what would have happened if Google had sent publishers the
following message:

"As you know Google is in the advertising business - big-time.  We can
make stuff sell.  But we know that many publishers have limited
advertising budgets - and besides, with books, you really need full-text
indexing.  So, for a mere $100 a book...or free ... or whatever...we
will...."

It does look as if Yahoo will benefit from the fact that it didn't.

Margaret Landesman
University of Utah

PS.  Here's a citation to the piece about Yahoo:

Yahoo aims to build its own online library
Search giant pledges to work with publishers on vast online library of
copyrighted books, in contrast to effort by rival Google

http://g.msn.com/0MN2ET7/2?http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9569930&&CM=EmailThis&CE1