AAP Sues Google Over Library Plan

-- Library Journal, 10/25/2005

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) has filed suit against Google over its program to scan library books. AAP officials said the lawsuit was filed "after lengthy discussions broke down" between the AAP and Google regarding what AAP insists is copyright infringement regarding the Google Print for Libraries Project. The suit seeks "a declaration by the court that Google commits infringement when it scans entire books covered by copyright" and "a court order preventing it from doing so without permission of the copyright owner." The suit names five major publishers and members of the AAP as plaintiffs: the McGraw-Hill Companies, Pearson Education, Penguin Group (USA), Simon & Schuster, and John Wiley & Sons. The suit is being coordinated and funded by the AAP, after "an overwhelming vote" by the 20-member AAP Board, and follows the Authors Guild suit against Google, which the AAP strongly supported.

AAP president Patricia Schroeder said that, even though "authors and publishers know how useful Google's search engine can be and think the Print Library could be an excellent resource, under its current plan, Google is seeking to make millions of dollars by freeloading on the talent and property of authors and publishers." That notion had Google representatives puzzled. In a visit to LJ, Google director of content Jim Gerber said Google was hardly freeloading, but spending millions to digitize books and host them, actually saving publishers the costs of digitizing their works themselves. In a meeting with Google, AAP proposed that Google utilize the ISBN numbering system to identify works under copyright and secure permission from publishers and authors to scan these works, but that "Google flatly rejected this reasonable proposal."