Reining in Google

Former Colorado congresswoman and president of the Association of American Publishers Pat Schroeder and Bob Barr, a former member of the House Judiciary Committee, author, newspaper columnist, and analyst for CNN, have joined forces to write this editorial column blasting Google for its efforts to publish on the Internet contents of books contained in the Stanford, Harvard and University of Michigan libraries.

Authors may be the first targets in Google's drive to make the intellectual property of others a cost-free inventory for delivery of its ad content, but we will hardly be the last. Media companies, engineering firms, software designers, architects, scientists, manufacturers, entertainers and professional services firms all produce products that could easily be considered for "fair use" by Google.

Google envisions a world in which all content is free; and of course, it controls the portal through which Internet user's access that content. It would completely devalue everyone else's property and massively increase the value of its own.

I think publishing book content on the Internet is a great idea; but authors and publishers ought to be compensated for the use of their work. To be blunt: if authors can't make money on the books they write, the amount of books written will be severly reduced, and Google will have nothing else to scan "snippets" of and publish online.

Here's an overview of how Google Print works. Looks like they have public domain books available. That's nice.

And here's what Google says people are saying about Google Print. Of course, no mention of the above editorial.