Need to Know: Google Book Search

gallery

On top of this is the monopoly issue, always looming with anything Google does these days. Some countries are somewhat concerned that Google will have all the access to their books, cutting out competitors.

Even the British Library is a bit worried about handing over rights.

The head of partnerships at the British Library, Simon Bell, said to the Times newspaper: “It is an absolute bedrock of anything we do that when we enter into a partnership for digitisation of content that we own the intellectual property on the digital object. So it might be commercialised for a number of years, but ultimately the ownership should then be fully taken back into the British Library so that we can then offer it via our website to the British taxpayer for free.”

What next?

The EC is currently debating the issue – and not just how to deal with Google. Commissioners are trying to figure out how to look at digital books, modernise copyright law, and how to keep publishers and authors in the loop.

That said, Commissioner Viviane Reding has previously expressed her support for Google’s Book Search, and yesterday said: "Digitisation of books is a task of Herculean proportions which the public sector needs to guide, but where it also needs private-sector support.”

Want to read more background on the latest IT topics? Click here for all the tech cheatsheets in our Need to Know series.

Email to a friend

Print this page