I know there’s already a TeleRead post on it, but Tim Oreilly’s post on Google/fair use/libraries has prompted a fascinating variety of responses. Tim writes:

I’ve already put all my books into Google Print. Google limits the amount of text that people can see in a book, and gives detailed reports on usage, so if I believe that people are just reading the book online, I can pull out at any time. (That’s why we’re in Google Print, but not Amazon Search Inside — Google’s contract lets publishers withdraw books at any time, while Amazon’s doesn’t.)

I for one would like to have easier access to copyright pages of older books. Would it be fair use for Google to display title pages/copyright/TOC pages for copyrighted works it scanned? Perhaps we should be worried if Google somehow manages to have the only extant version of a book. But that doesn’t seem likely, and besides, publishers have more money to make from newer titles than older.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. I’ve written about the pernicious notion that metadata — such as the information on a copyright page — should be considered the publisher’s IP. (See particularly Metadata should be free and Metadata copyright proposal.)

    Doesn’t it strike you as incredible on its face that you should even think the words “would like to have easier access” in regards to a copyright page?

    We are way out of balance when locking up information ABOUT a book is even considerable possible or reasonable.

    It gives me the shudders.

    Roger

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