Google on Thursday said it has added more public-domain books to its Google Print service. The books come from libraries at
the University of Michigan, Harvard University, Stanford University, and the New York Public Library and can be viewed in
their entirety in the Google database.
Previously, Google Print users could find public-domain books and view their entire contents but Google calls Thursday's announcement
the first significant addition of public-domain books, according to a company statement. Google isn't revealing how many new
books are added but said that for example, U.S. Civil War history books, government documents and works by Henry James are
now available.
Public-domain books either were never covered by copyright or are no longer protected by copyright.
The Google Print program has come under fire by authors because Google is also including books in the database that are still
protected by copyright. Users that wish to search within those books, however, will only be able to view snippets of the books
and not the entire contents.
Two groups, The Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers, have both filed lawsuits against Google, charging
the company with copyright infringement for scanning books without author permission. Google allows authors to opt out of
the program but historically content users have been required to proactively seek permission to use copyright content. Google
maintains that because it will only display snippets of books, the Google Print program constitutes fair use and thus complies
with copyright laws.
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