Sunday, December 03, 2006
Google Takes on Copyright Laws
Tony Sanfilippo is of two minds when it comes to Google's ambitious program to scan millions of books and make their text fully searchable on the internet.
On the one hand, Sanfilippo credits the program for boosting sales of obscure titles at Penn State University Press, where he works. On the other hand, he's worried that Google's plans to creat digital copies of books obtained directly from libraries could hurt his industry's long term revenues.
I have mixed reactions about this article..
I think that it would be a great idea for Google to scan millions of full text books to be available on the Internet so that it will convenience people more in the aspect that they wont have to waste their time having to go all the way to the library to take the book out and have to spend time searching around the library for it. But then where i dont agree with Google scanning millions of full text books on the internet for everybody to have access to is because then nobody will go to the library and nobody will go to the bookstores to purchase these books so then all the bookstores will lose money and maybe even have to go out of business.
In the article it states that "To prevent the wholesale file sharing that is plaguing the entertainment industry, Google has set some limits in its library project: Users wont be able to easily print materials or read more then small portions of copyright works online."
But many publishers remain wary. To endorse Google's library intiative is to say "it's OK to break into my houes because you're going to clean my kitchen," said Sally Morris, chief exectuive of the UK based Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers. "Just because you do something thats not harmful or is beneficial doesnt make it legal."
Morris and other publishers believe Google must get their permission first, as it has under the Print Publisher Program it launched in October 2004, two months before announcing the library initiative.
Under Google's structures, readers can see just five pages at a time of publisher submitted titles and no more then 20 percent of an entire book through multiple searches. For books int he public domain, they can read the entire book online.
On the one hand, Sanfilippo credits the program for boosting sales of obscure titles at Penn State University Press, where he works. On the other hand, he's worried that Google's plans to creat digital copies of books obtained directly from libraries could hurt his industry's long term revenues.
I have mixed reactions about this article..
I think that it would be a great idea for Google to scan millions of full text books to be available on the Internet so that it will convenience people more in the aspect that they wont have to waste their time having to go all the way to the library to take the book out and have to spend time searching around the library for it. But then where i dont agree with Google scanning millions of full text books on the internet for everybody to have access to is because then nobody will go to the library and nobody will go to the bookstores to purchase these books so then all the bookstores will lose money and maybe even have to go out of business.
In the article it states that "To prevent the wholesale file sharing that is plaguing the entertainment industry, Google has set some limits in its library project: Users wont be able to easily print materials or read more then small portions of copyright works online."
But many publishers remain wary. To endorse Google's library intiative is to say "it's OK to break into my houes because you're going to clean my kitchen," said Sally Morris, chief exectuive of the UK based Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers. "Just because you do something thats not harmful or is beneficial doesnt make it legal."
Morris and other publishers believe Google must get their permission first, as it has under the Print Publisher Program it launched in October 2004, two months before announcing the library initiative.
Under Google's structures, readers can see just five pages at a time of publisher submitted titles and no more then 20 percent of an entire book through multiple searches. For books int he public domain, they can read the entire book online.
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A mixed reaction is appropriate. There are positive and negative consequences, seen and unforeseen. Public domain should be expanded and copyright should be protected for a limited period only; this will protect property rights and encourage innovation and creativity.
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