Google Books vs. Open Culture

Printer-friendly versionSend by email

Concerned at the implications of Google's attempt to build an online digital library, a splinter group called the Open Content Alliance has launched a not-for-profit effort to scan the collections of major libraries and make them available online. "You are talking about the fruits of our civilization and culture. You want to keep it open and certainly don't want any company to enclose it," explained Doron Weber, program director of public understanding of science and technology for the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Google's proprietary approach has been met with lawsuits from authors and publishers concerned about infringement on their copyrights, which has in turn forced the company to place restrictions on its digital-book copies to ensure that "only small excerpts from the copyrighted material appear online."