Google v Authors Guild: a victory for readers' right to choose

A Manhattan court case about digitisation rights has brought books and the web a step closer togetherOn 14 November, after eight years of wrangling, Judge Denny Chin of the Manhattan district court finally ruled in the case of Google versus the Authors Guild. At issue was Google's scanning and digitisation of more than 20m books from libraries across the world, but at the heart of the case was question of what constitutes fair use in the age of the internet.For the Authors Guild, it was unquestioningly a violation of publishers' and authors' rights to copy their work wholesale and make "snippets" of it available online. For Google, and for many scholars and librarians who petitioned on its behalf, the indexing of those works is transformative, and adds to, rather than reduces, their value. After much deliberation, the courts have come to agree with the latter – it is, after all, what search engines have been doing to the web since it originated.There is a point at which we come to assume that a text is first and foremost digital. We've already passed that point for much of the media around us, understanding that even the letters we receive in the post are printed from digital "originals". Newspapers currently inhabit a mid-point: we're still unsure whether the printed or the website edition is the "true" version.That point is fast approaching for the book, and we are choosing the form that it will take. Essentially, the book is becoming more like the web, opened up to... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2013-11-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #search engines #fast approaching #long term

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Fast Chat: Google Gets a Magazine

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[ AdWeek | 2011-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Terry Jones first Unbound author

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Reports: Reader’s Digest, Wenner Media Up For Sale

Reader's Digest Association is on the block, seeking a price of around $1 billion, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal, which says the company may sell off piece by piece rather than as a whole. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Gift author returns with Union

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sony to launch upgraded e-readers

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Thu, 14/07/2011 - 09:14 Sony is to launch a range of upgraded e-readers in the US to challenge Amazon's Kindle. The range of Sony Readers, priced from $180-$300 (£112-£186), looks set to launch in August, prior to the electronics giant's release... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How to Choose and Apply Social Media Tools

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[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Utne Reader Launches Social Media Curated Magazine

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[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google Highlights Individual Content Creators

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[ Folio Magazine | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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IGN appoints Reader's Digest's Shepperson

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[ Media Week | 2011-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Robert Newman Officially Joins Reader’s Digest as Creative Director

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[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Study Says Tablet, E-Reader Users Haven’t Given Up Print

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[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Judging E-Readers by Their Book Readability

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[ AllThingsD | 2011-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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If a college graduate, older than 30, wealthy and Hispanic, you probably own an e-reader

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[ Betanews | 2011-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google Faces Claim for €295M Damages in French Court

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[ PC World | 2011-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Salon CEO Gingras to Head Up News at Google

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[ AllThingsD | 2011-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Salon CEO Richard Gingras Leaves, Set to Join Google

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[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Self-published author hits one million Kindle sales

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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British Library signs partnership deal with Google

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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