Victor Greto, Copyright's next test, Delaware Online, November 28, 2005. Greto interviews two book-publishing authors from the University of Delaware, Thomas Leitch, who objects to Google Library, and Ben Yagoda, who supports it. Leitch used to believe that the more attention his work received, the better.
"But the more I think about it, that's not true," Leitch says. "Everything that I've ever published has a copyright notice. I sell myself to a press, but that's a deal I've made, even though I don't make much money." Like Leitch, none of Yagoda's books are listed on the site, but also like Leitch, his work is cited in dozens of books that already have been scanned in. "It's not hurting me or my earnings, or defaming me, or doing anything harmful to me or my work," he says. Nor does the principle behind it bother him. "To me, it only becomes a problem if someone takes away something that you could have benefited from. The revenue wouldn't have existed otherwise."
Greto also interviewed Allan Adler, VP for the Association of American Publishers, which is suing Google to stop the Google Library project.
Google also gives authors and publishers the chance to "opt out" of the site. "They think they're being generous, but the burden is on the author and publisher," Adler says. "If it was fair use, you wouldn't be offering the opt-out."
(PS: I'd like correct Allan Adler's point. If Google's library scanning and snippet sharing is fair use, then the company wouldn't be obligated to offer an opt-out and publishers wouldn't be entitled to claim one. But Google could still offer one without undermining its legal theory. Offering an opt-out simply means that Google is being more generous or accommodating than it has to be.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 11/28/2005 10:33:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
