Judge Rules that Google Book Scanning is Considered Fair Use

By emeadows
October 15, 2012

The Author’s Guild has experienced another setback in its battle against Google’s book-scanning project.
Last week, we reported that Google had settled with a group of major publishers. “Now a judge has ruled that the libraries who have provided Google with their books to scan are protected by copyright’s fair use doctrine,” reports Ars Technica.
“While the decision doesn’t guarantee that Google will win — that’s still to be decided in a separate lawsuit — the reasoning of this week’s decision bodes well for Google’s case,” notes the article.
Copyright scholar James Grimmelmann called Judge Harold Baer’s ruling a “near-complete victory” for the libraries.
The decision “makes the case seem so lopsided that it makes the appeal into an uphill battle,” he explains. “Perhaps together with the AAP [American Association of Publishers] settlement, this is a moment for a reevaluation of the Authors Guild’s suit against Google. My estimate of the likelihood of settlement just went up substantially.”

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