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Internet Archive Seeks Same Online Book Rights As Google

Posted by timothy on from the from-a-to-z-and-back-again dept.

Miracle Jones writes "Brewster Kahle's Internet Archive has jumped on Google's 'Authors Guild' settlement and asked to be included as a party defendant, claiming that they ought to get the same rights and protections from liability that Google will receive when the settlement is approved by federal court. From the Internet Archive's letter to Judge Denny Chin: 'The Archive's text archive would greatly benefit from the same limitation of potential copyright liability that the proposed settlement provides Google. Without such a limitation, the Archive would be unable to provide some of these same services due to the uncertain legal issues surrounding orphan books.'"

6 of 67 comments (clear)

  1. Re:At a minimum, this should be open to all comers by corsec67 · · Score: 2, Informative

    You mean that it should be a Reasonable and Non Discriminatory License?

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    If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
  2. Re:It should be open! by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1, Informative

    What about the Gutenberg Project, and similar collections?

    They've already got one.

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    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  3. Re:It should be open! by FrostDust · · Score: 4, Informative

    The AG-Google agreement wouldn't affect Gutenberg at all. The Gutenberg Project only deals with works that are either public domain or works where the author gave permission for GP to use the works.

    The reason the Author's Guild got upset with Google and eventually reached a settlement with them was because Google was dealing with "orphaned" works. These were books that, while restricted in distribution by copyright laws, were out of print for one reason or another. While Google saw this as part of their mission to increase the availiblity of information, the AG saw this as an encroachment on the rights of their members.

  4. Re:Great News by julesh · · Score: 2, Informative

    How can the "Open" Content Alliance link to a proprietary, display only website? Where is the text? How annoying.

    Err... what's "view only" about it? Click the download button above the scribd viewer and you're presented options to download in pdf or plain text.

  5. Re:At a minimum, this should be open to all comers by Mathinker · · Score: 3, Informative

    How on earth does this limit "free speach" or "free expression"? In no way does it stop anyone going out and saying what they want.

    It does, if what they want to express happens to be a derived work based on an orphaned work.

    See The Wind Done Gone as a case in point where copyright was used in an attempt to limit artistic (and political) expression.

    It obviously doesn't limit expression of pure ideas, per se. Was that what you meant?

  6. Re:At a minimum, this should be open to all comers by russotto · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's a bunch of private parties (the Authors Guild) deciding, after having taken a company (Google) to court, to settle their differences without having the court impose something.

    If the settlement only covered Author's Guild authors, that would be true. It doesn't. It covers ALL copyright holders. A sues B and the settlement extinguishes C,D, and Es claims (past, present or future) as well.