The Two Facets to Google’s Book Search Program

Google Book Search is a service that allows a user to search for books that Google has scanned and stored in its database. First introduced in October 2004, it was formerly known as Google Print. When users choose a keyword, the results from Google Book Search are displayed on top of the Google Web Search results. Choosing one allows the user to view pages from the book, or when a book is no longer covered by copyright, the full text is made available. Library and purchase information is displayed with the text.

Google was sued in 2005 for alleged copyright violations by scanning books, creating a digital database and displaying excerpts without the permission of the copyright holders, violations Google denied. After a three year lawsuit battle with the Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers and other authors and publishers, a settlement has been reached that is pending approval by the Court.

The Google Book Search project has two facets: the Partner Program and the Library Project. In the Partner Program, Google is authorized by the publisher, or copyright owner, to scan the full text of a book into its search database. In response to a search request, Google provides bibliographic information and a link to relevant text. The link takes the user to a view of the full page that contains the search term along with a few pages before and after the page. Other links are provided to enable the purchase of the book from booksellers or find it at a local library.

In the Library Project, Google proposes to scan the libraries of Stanford, Harvard and Oxford Universities, the University of Michigan and the New York Public Library. Search queries will return the full text of public domain books but only a short excerpt of text from books still covered by copyright. Unlike the Partner Program, no full pages will be displayed. If a search term appears a number of times in a book, no more than three excerpts, or “snippets”, will be displayed. The page displaying the snippets will include information on the nearest library where the book can be found and, if available, information about where the book can be purchased.

Once the agreement is approved, Google will be able to make available out-of-print books that are still covered by copyright that now are only available in libraries or used book stores. Users will be able to purchase full online access. Libraries and universities will be able to purchase institutional subscriptions to provide access to millions of books while compensating publishers and authors.