Google Books

History

Co-founders Larry Page (left) and Sergey Brin (right).

In 1998 co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin launched the now internationally used search engine Google. However, what is perhaps lesser known is that around these years Page and Brin were working on another project titled "Google Print," otherwise known as Google Books. This project, which was supported by the Stanford Digital Library Technologies Project, had the goal of getting digital libraries to work. The much bigger and ambitious goal of this project however, was to digitize copies of every single published book. As a result, Google Books set out to make various agreements with research libraries such as Stanford, Harvard, and Oxford. After having digitized the libraries work, Google, in return, gave them access to the copies made, thus completing the goal Google Books set out to do.

The books that were digitized by Google Books could then be easily accessed by searching key phrases or names on Google's search engine. If the particular item that was being searched was owned by the public domain, then the reader could easily download and even print the document, highlighting the accessibility within Google Books, If the book was not owned by the public domain however, Google Books would allow access to a few pages of the book and provide links or more information as to where to purchase the book. While this process of obtaining and viewing stories within Google Books began with its creaiton, it is important to note that since this time Google Books has evolved, becoming an even faster and larger source for both readers and authors.

Issues

While Google Books can be seen as having a beneficial and groundbreaking influence in the publishing industry, there are various issues and concerns which this project has faced throughout the years. One of these issues concerns copyright laws and the recognition of publishers and authors of the original work.

The process of scanning a published book that is later added to Google Books, which brings the question of copyright infringement.

Copyright is the legal protection of an authors original work or property which begins the moment the original work is created or fixed. This protection falls under The Copyright Act which is a "branch of law dealing with the rights of creators."This applies to all forms of orginal work such as writing, music, art, and much more. The goal of Google Books, which is to digitize all published work, can very easily infringe copyright laws, in which a published works copyright status can be disregarded.

This concern of copyrights can be seen in the nearly decade long case (2005-2015) of the Authors Guild versus Google Books. This case primarily focused on Google Books scanning of various collections of books from libraries. These particular scans were made available in searchable databases where the public could search through particular terms of the texts which would result in short pieces from the text appearing in the search results. It is important to note however, the public could only access these small snippets of the text and not its entirety. This directly lead to the Author Guild, along with many individual authors, to sue Google, saying that the displaying and scanning of these texts, which only included parts of the original text, infringed upon copyright laws.

After almost a decade, the court ultimately ruled in favor of Google Books. Google Books work was considered transformative and therefore was considered as fair use, which is what eventually lead to their win. The scanning of texts was considered transformative because it was a service which publicized information and thus provided knowledge to the public while simultaneously not replacing the original work but providing information about it. Furthermore, Google Books provided information about the original work which would allow users, if they desired, to purchase the original work or access the full text.

Though Google Books scanning and displaying of snippets of original work directly falls under fair use, many authors and organizations continue to question their work. If the original work is not altered or edited and solely scanned along with information about the authors and publishers, is there an infringement upon copyright? Does the scanning of all published works disregard copyright status? Though Google Books remains to be used and accessed internationally, these questions are continuously asked, leading to doubts and various lawsuits and cases against Google Books.

Role in the Publishing Industry

Despite the various issues and concerns on ethics regarding Google Books, it is undeniable that Google Books has and still continues to both expand and revolutionize the world of publishing. Major publishing houses such as Penguin Random House and HarperCollins publish tens of thousands of works every year. Similarly, Google Books digitizes roughly the same amount of books in a year, with the total of all digitized books ranging in the tens of millions. That being said, Google Books matches closely if not exactly with the number of books released, showing that it plays a similarly big role in the publishing industry as these major publishing houses do.

With the number of digitized books ranging in the tens of millions, it is clear that Google Books allows a variety of orginal works to not only be accessed internationally but provides further recognition of authors and publishers, who otherwise may not receive such a wide range of acknowledgment. Furthermore, the vast size of Google Books along with its partner program, provide a wide range of opportunities and avenues for authors to both sell or provide a preview of their works. This partner program is an agreement with Google Books and Google Play in which authors can submit their work through the Play Store in order to provide a preview to their work or also sell it with no charge. The revenue is then shared based off of the price which the author provides. The book can then be found in both platforms and read through the Play Store and therefore expands the authors audience.

It is also important to note that while the publishing industry is quite big and thus reaches people internationally, there are still many people who may not have the ability to access certain books or pieces of writing. With the help of Google Books however, those who would otherwise not have access to a particular piece of writing, now have access due to the wide range of digitized works which is open for all.

From the ever growing rate at which Google Books digitizes books to the opportunities offered to authors and the open accessibility, it is clear that Google Books, despite the issues it has faced, has an impacting and vastly growing role in the publishing industry. Furthermore, Google Books success in both expanding and developing the digital publishing world has forever influenced the world of publishing in an ever increasing technological world.