Google Defends Plan to Digitize Books
Google defended its book digitization program to Congress yesterday. David Drummond, senior vice president of corporate development and chief legal officer at Google, expressed Google’s plans as an open platform that will work to help independent bookstores and will work with publishers and device manufacturers.
In a statement Google said, “In this open platform, readers can find and purchase digital books from any bookstore and read them on any device, including laptops, mobile phones and e-readers from multiple vendors. Smaller, independent bookstores, such as BookPeople in Austin, will benefit from an open platform that helps them stay relevant as book consumption moves online.”
The testimony was brought to Congress to combat criticisms by Amazon and others including the issue that Google alone would have the rights to scanned out-of-print books.
Drummond said, “Google will host the digital books online, and retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble or your local bookstore will be able to sell access to users on any Internet-connected device they choose. Retailers can also pursue their own digitization efforts of out-of-print books in parallel.”
Under the proposed legislation authors or publishers of in-print books will be approached for permission to distribute. Since there is no owner of orphaned books Google is requesting that they should be allowed the right to scan those and the firm is also lobbying for all online booksellers to enjoy the same privilege.
Marybeth Peters, head of the U.S. Copyright Office, is against the proposal stating that, parts of the settlement are “fundamentally at odds with the law.” She also voiced concerns over the implications on copyright laws within the U.S. as well as international issues arising on books printed in other countries.
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