Google Should Lose Book Piracy Suit

Google is being sued for "massive copyright infringement" by the Authors Guild and three authors -- and the authors should win the suit. Google is plain wrong for its unauthorized scanning and copying countless books without permission. When publishers initially didn't jump at Google's plan to scan their copyrighted book and make them freely searchable via Google, the search giant took the underhanded route --- it made deals with four academic libraries (Stanford, Harvard, Oxford and the University of Michigan) and the New York Public Library to scan sizable portions of their collections and make them available for searching via Google. That scanning will include copyrighted books.

As I've said before, this is worse than file-sharers stealing music online. At least file-sharers gain no profit. Google stands to reap big-time money because it gets ad revenue for every page view.

Google should admit its mistake and only scan non-copyrighted material, or books whose publishers or authors give permission. To do any less is little more than digital piracy.