In its decision of October 2015, the Court of Appeals held that Google can continue scanning books without prior copyright holders’ permission. It should be noted that Google Books does not contain any advertisements, nor does Google receive any remuneration for providing links to other websites where those books can be purchased.įair Use Analysis in the Google Books Case Google claims that all digital copies are stored on its servers using the strict protection standards and Google’s own confidential information.Īccording to Google, the creation of such a digital library catalogue opens new unseen possibilities for readers and researchers to locate information which “would otherwise not be obtainable in lifetimes of searching”. To date, more than 20 million non-fiction books (most of them out of stock) have been scanned and made available for online search. The library would then receive a digital copy of every book scanned. According to the mutual agreements, libraries would provide hard copies of books which Google would scan and convert to digital copies. Google Books originated in 2004 when Google initiated cooperation with the largest research libraries of the world (“Library Project”). At the bottom of the page a list of other relevant books is provided, together with links to the sites where a particular book can be purchased. Based on search results, users can choose a particular book and see up to three excerpts from the book (snippets). In the following paragraphs we will briefly (i) touch upon the main features of the Google Books project, the legality of which was contested in this litigation (ii) introduce the main arguments that led the Court of Appeals to conclude that Google Books should be deemed as fair use under the US copyright law and (iii) discuss whether copyright systems in civil law countries have any similar tenets to the fair use doctrine in dealing with intricate copyright infringement matters.įrom the viewpoint of users, Google Books is an electronic library catalogue where users are able to conduct a search for particular keywords and get a list of books where those words could be found. Back then, the Court of Appeals ruled that the Google Books project significantly contributes to the availability of information, facilitates the dissemination of knowledge, and promotes creativity and science. This means that the decision of the Court of Appeals rendered in October 2015 remains in force and sets an important precedent concerning the application of the fair use standard. This was a final blow to authors’ representatives who in a 186 page petition tried to argue that Google engaged in copyright infringement “on an epic scale.” The saga over the legality of the Google Books project finally came to an end on April 18, 2016, when the Supreme Court of the US refused to intervene in the case over alleged copyright infringement for scanning millions of books and making them searchable online.
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