What Google _has_ done is scan over 2 million works that are still under copyright and is planning to sell _those_, not via any legislation to directly change copyright law but via a class action suit and a contract made with a handful of parties who do not represent most authors or publishers.
I should add, this project is not "Google Book Search," where entire works were scanned for the purpose of providing display "snippets" and ads next to them. I am talking about Google scanning entire books (copyrighted, even in-print, as well as public domain books) to sell the full texts as e-books, as print-on-demand books, and as parts of anthologies compiled by Google.
Google's strategy was to borrow the books from fully consenting libraries, contractually engage to defend copyright violation suits brought against those libraries, do low-quality scans of the books to get on the market fast, and then to legally assert that anyone who did not find out that their copyright had been violated and also withdraw consent within a very limited time period, had legally consented to Google's selling the work, and also ads within it (ad sales to be made by Google). Whereas, copyright law requires prior consent for the use of works. Even though I do not know of any of my works that were scanned (Google will not reveal this to anyone who does not first consent to their terms), I hired a lawyer to make sure my consent was firmly withdrawn. But, another wrinkle is, even if you officially withdraw consent Google makes no legal guarantee they will not scan and sell your work anyway.
Some of the libraries in the project insisted that Google scan only public-domain works in their collections--but some, reassured by Google's relieving the libraries of legal liability, did not.
Again, no one has ever objected to Google's scanning of public-domain works, or their plans to sell those works as e-books or print books, or their plans to sell ads within them. OK, I personally don't want modern ads inserted in 19th-century works that I buy (except for a tasteful list of the modern publisher's other books in the back) but apparently a lot of people don't object, or Google thinks they won't.
The breathtakingly massive scanning of copyrighted works is another issue altogether. I'm rooting for the Justice Department.
Lavolta Press New book on 1820s clothing! http://www.lavoltapress.com _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
