The Google Library Project: Is Digitization for Purposes of Online Indexing Fair Use Under
Copyright Law?
"The Google Book Search Library Project, announced in December 2004, raised important
questions about infringing reproduction and fair use under copyright law. Google planned to
digitize, index, and display “snippets” of print books in the collections of five major libraries
without the permission of the books’ copyright holders, if any. Authors and publishers owning
copyrights to these books sued Google in September and October 2005, seeking to enjoin and
recover damages for Google’s alleged infringement of their exclusive rights to reproduce and
publicly display their works. Google and proponents of its Library Project disputed these
allegations. They essentially contended that Google’s proposed uses were not infringing because
Google allowed rights holders to “opt out” of having their books digitized or indexed. They also
argued that, even if Google’s proposed uses were infringing, they constituted fair uses under
copyright law..."