Another day, another letter to Google
From Bernie Sloan via the LITA-L list ...
The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers has issued a letter to Google regarding the digitization of copyrighted works as part of the library portion of Google Print:
... Google’s representatives do not yet seem willing to arrive at a practical way forward in relation to in-copyright works which the publisher has not yet digitised. Google has variously stated that it wishes to collaborate fully with publishers; that it believes that the copying involved is covered by Fair Use/Fair Dealing (which we absolutely dispute); that the precedent of Kelly v ArribaSoft is applicable (which we also dispute); and that the copying is justified by the beneficial nature of the resultant use (which is no defence, in our view, against a copyright infringement).The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers calls on Google to cease unlicensed digitisation of copyright materials with immediate effect, and to enter into urgent discussions with
representatives of the publishing industry in order to arrive at an
appropriate licensing solution for ‘Google Print for Libraries’. We cannot believe that a business which prides itself on its cooperation with publishers could seriously wish to build part of its business on a basis of copyright infringement.