Google 又被告了

網路搜尋引擎龍頭Google的數位圖書館計畫風波不斷。繼美國的作家協會以Google違反著作權法為由，一狀告到聯邦法院後，美國出版商協會也於週三 (10/19) 跟進，向紐約地區法院提出侵權控訴。

華爾街日報週四報導，美國出版商協會指出，Google將版權書數位化的做法已侵權。專家指出，這場官司意義重大，有助釐清著作權法將如何影響網路以及出版商、新聞媒體與其他內容所有者的商業模式。…

…. Google在一份聲明中稱此指控「短視」，並表示這場官司可能會傷害消費者、作者與出版商。

Google並指出，創造一套易於使用的圖書索引為著作之「合理使用」，不構成版權之侵害。 …

劉聖芬/綜合外電報導
中時電子報 (2005/10/21) [ 詳細新聞內容 ]

Eric Schmidt，CEO of Google ，也馬上在 Official Google Blog 發表一篇名為 The point of Google Print 作為回應。

Indeed, some of Google Print’s primary beneficiaries will be publishers and authors themselves. Backlist titles comprise the vast majority of books in print and a large portion of many publishers’ profits, but just a fraction of their marketing budgets. Google Print will allow those titles to live forever, just one search away from being found and purchased. Some authors are already seeing the benefits. When Cardinal Ratzinger became pope, millions of people who searched his name saw the Google Print listing for his book “In the Beginning" (Wm. B. Eerdmans) in their results. Thousands of them looked at a page or two from the book; clicks on the title’s “Buy this Book" links increased tenfold. …

Google 的總顧問及副總裁 David Drummond 也發表了一篇 Why we believe in Google Print

We’ve been asked recently why we’re so determined to pursue Google Print, even though it has drawn industry opposition in the form of two lawsuits, the most recent coming today from several members of the American Association of Publishers. The answer is that this program, which will make millions of books easier for everyone in the world to find, is crucial to our company’s mission. We’re dedicated to helping the world find information, and there’s too much information in books that cannot yet be found online. We think you should be able to search through every word of every book ever written, and come away with a list of relevant books to buy or find at your local library. We aim to make that happen, but to do so we’ll need to build and maintain an index containing all this information. …