Another important copyright decision is in—this time from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Authors Guild v. Google, Inc. Plaintiffs—authors of copyright protected books—brought an action for infringement against Google, claiming that its digitization of millions of books without Plaintiffs’ permission violated copyright law. The court on appeal, acknowledging that this dispute “test[ed] the boundaries of fair use,” ruled in favor of Google, allowing the search-engine to shelve this case in the W column. Below are my key takeaways from the court’s decision. First, here’s what you need to know about the case: Google scanned millions of books—without permission from the rights holders—and made them accessible to Internet users, who in turn, could search and view randomized pages (snippets) of the books on Google’s site (Google Books) for free. Google did this as part of its Library Project. With nearly twenty million books digitized from some of the world’s largest libraries, Google Books is a powerful research tool that provides users with information not “obtainable in lifetimes of searching.” So why did the court conclude Google’s unauthorized copying of millions of books didn’t violate copyright law? Fair use, of course! Here are the key legal takeaways from the decision:
Continue Reading The Second Circuit Turns the Page on Plaintiffs’ Google Books Copyright Suit