A US court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by authors to stop Google from digitizing millions of books, ruling that it is a legal use with base US copyright laws.
Disappointment is expressed by the American Writers' Association, which accuses Google of violating intellectual property by digitizing millions of books for its online library without permission, and intends to appeal.
Judge Denny Chin accepted Google's argument that the digitization of books - whether extracts are available through the Internet - is a legitimate use.
Digitize 20 million books
Google launched the Google Books service 2004 and has already digitized more than 20 million books. "In my opinion, the Google Books service offers a significant public benefit," Judge Qin said.
Google's plan not only offers "a new and effective way for readers and researchers to find books," added the judge, "but it has become an essential search tool by helping librarians catalog and find sources, make the process more effective lending between libraries and facilitating finding and controlling cuts ".
The judge also pointed out that Google does not sell digitized books themselves.
