Google books provides information about a huge amount of books, and in some cases, where the work is out of copyright, also provides the full text of the work. Google has attracted a lot of controversy for its digitisation program that aims to provide access to millions of out of print and orphaned books. The fact that these books are out of print means that they are likely not particularly popular, however the sheer amount of works made available will likely mean that the database will have a very large user base. This sort of marketing strategy is referred to as "leveraging the long tail". The nature of the application means that Google can host and provide access to huge amounts of material, which allows them to target a much broader audience than if they were providing physical copies of the works.
Google books had its origin in a book digitisation program involving university libraries that aimed to provide access to research from all over the world. It has since grown to a project encompassing all types of print materials, including novels, magazines and technical guides. Google Book Search aims to make substantial portions of these works available for free, and the entire work available on a subscription basis. This is a truly revolutionary idea, with a number of rather severe issues that will fundamentally change how publishing and copyright works. A large number of authors are unhappy about the project, as well as the settlement reached between Google and the Author's Guild as well as representatives of the Association of American Publishers. Millions of the digitised books are not orphan works, and have easily found copyright owners that Google has simply not made an effort to contact, due to the scale of the project. Authors whose work has been digitised can contact Google and choose to either keep their work available for a fee, or opt out completely from the program. But many authors have stated the fact that Google has digitised millions of books without the authors' consent makes a mockery of the principle of copyright.
While the project is in many ways a wonderful concept, there are still many legal and ethical issues that have yet to be addressed. A global public library is a beautiful idea, but if it tramples on the rights of authors, it is ultimately worthless.
Haiku:
Every book on Earth
Available in digital
But owned by Google
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i think, actually, your Haiku sums up my fear with google books moreso than wanting to preserve author's rights. long after the author's dead and gone, and the problems of copyright are immaterial, all this digitized 'stuff' is going to be looked after by a company - not a library, that does not exist to make a profit - google is, at essence, a money maker. that's the main purpose. libraries exist to provide information to people - different libraries, for different people, yes, but individuals... a lot of it comes down to funding to me - if people truly respected how MUCH information costs, i think they would be more willing to invest (tax wise? direct payment) for use of services, to keep them going, rather than allowing companies to end up responsible for everything...
ReplyDeletea very tricky issue. i saw an excellent talk at the Innovative Ideas forum on the role of government providing access to web 2.0 as a 'public work' - like a road, or garbage trucks - and that it's an important role of govt. to look at this too...