Despite judgment by NYC court Google Books still flouts copyright law outside US
Google Books’ library continues to be unlawful under copyright laws outside the US despite a significant judgment to the contrary in a New York court.
In Authors Guild Inc et al v Google Inc, US District Court No 05-08136, the court held that Google Books was protected by the “fair use” doctrine.
However, Robin Fry, partner at DAC Beachcroft, says: “Although the judgment declares the Google library lawful for the scanning of US, Canadian, Australian and UK books, a US court judgment can only cover Google activities within the US.
“Without additional permissions from not just publishers but also individual authors, Google will be infringing copyright if it carries out any storage, hosting, scanning or making available the books outside the US.”
Fry says Google will risk criminal proceedings or civil claims being brought by any one writer or publisher if it continued.
“However, it seems to be a risk that Google is willing to take,” he adds.
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