Google wins the right to legally scan books for the Web

After eight years of battling in court, Google has won the right to scan books and publish them online – for now.

U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin issued a decision on Thursday in New York, saying that Google Books, which provides Web users with access to previews and full versions of more than 20 million titles, is “highly transformative” due to the way it was implemented, and clearly falls into the copyright law’s exception for “fair use” because Google only provides “snippets” of copyrighted works for which it does not have publishing rights.

Chin went on to say that “Google Books provides significant public benefits” and would serve as “an essential research tool.” Chin added that Google Books “advances the progress of the arts and sciences, while maintaining respectful consideration for the rights of authors and other creative individuals, and without adversely impacting the rights of copyright holders.”

Google, of course, agrees.

Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/google-book-scan-authors-guild/#ixzz2kzeHKiwD
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