Tag Archives: Google Books

Fair Use Copyright Ruling Stands For Google Books

GoogleLast month, the Supreme Court denied certiorari in Authors Guild v. Google, Inc., the long-running copyright case involving Google’s Google Books project.  The high court’s refusal to hear the case leaves in place the Second Circuit’s October 2015 decision in favor of Google and brings to a close this highly publicized and closely watched litigation, more than a decade after it began. … More

Second Circuit Hints At Possible Google Books Outcome In Finding HathiTrust Digital Library Project Protected As Fair Use

HathiEarlier this week, the Second Circuit issued its ruling in the HathiTrust case, a potential precursor to the long-awaited resolution of the more prominent, and related, Google Books case.  The decision upholds the district court’s finding that the non-profit defendant is protected by the fair use doctrine, but leaves room for a potentially different outcome in the Google Books matter.  As we have reported,… More

After Long Battle, Google Books Ruled “Fair Use”

Google BooksWhen last we looked in on the Google Books dispute, the Second Circuit had overturned class certification in the suit, brought by the Authors Guild and multiple individual authors, on the basis that the District Court first should have resolved Google’s fair use defense, which could moot the class certification issue.  Last week Judge Denny Chin, still presiding over the Google Books dispute by designation,… More

Google Settles Long-Running Copyright Dispute with Book Publishers

GoogleBooks(2)Yesterday Google and the Association of American Publishers (AAP) announced that they have settled the litigation filed in 2005 by the AAP challenging the Google Books Library Project. As we have previously reported, Google is involved in an ambitious project to digitize the contents of a number of the world’s largest libraries and to make that content available online. The Google Books site provides excerpts of books,… More

Google Books Settlement Rejected

This week a federal court put the brakes on Google’s plans to create a universal digital library by rejecting the company’s proposed settlement of class-action lawsuits filed by authors and publishers challenging the Google Books project. On March 22, 2011, more than a year after conducting a fairness hearing on the parties’ amended settlement agreement, judge Denny Chin rejected the plan that would have permitted Google,… More

Photographers and Visual Artists Sue Google over Google Books

A new wrinkle has recently appeared in the legal landscape surrounding Google’s Google Books project. While the parties to the authors’ and publishers’ lawsuit await a court decision on approval of their proposed settlement, a different group of plaintiffs has filed a new class action lawsuit against Google on behalf of photographers, visual artists, and other copyright owners whose pictorial works appear in the books and periodicals included in the Google Books project.… More

Google Books Update

The content production and delivery world continues to wait with bated breath for a decision as to the legality of the Google Books project. Several years ago, Google announced that it was partnering with major libraries – including, among many others, the Harvard University Library, the New York Public Library, and Oxford University’s Bodleian Library – to scan the full text of books in their collections. Google’s ultimate aim is to make book text searchable online and,… More