US Appeals Tribunal Rules That Google Book-Scanning is Fair Use

WASHINGTON: U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday that Google's massive effort to skim millions of scripts for an online library does not violate copyright law, rejecting claims from a group of authors that the project illegally deprives them of tax income.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York rejected infringement claims from the Authors Guild and several individual writers, and found that the project offers a public service without violating intellectual property jurisprudence.

But Google argued that the attempt would actually boost book sales by making it easier for lecturers to find work, while acquainting them to books they might not otherwise have considered.

A attorney for the generators did not directly respond to a request for comment.

Google had said it could face billions of dollars in possible damages if the authors prevailed. 

A unanimous three-judge appeals panel stated the case "tests the limits of reasonable use," but found Google's practices were ultimately allowed under the jurisprudence. 

"Google’s division of the page into tiny snippets is designed to present the searcher just enough context surrounding the searched term to help her evaluate whether the record falls within the reach of her interest (without letting out so much as to threaten the author’s copyright interests)," Circuit Judge Pierre Leval wrote for the courtyard.

"Today’s decision will underline what people who use the service tell us: Google Books gives them a utilitarian and easygoing way to discover books they want to read and buy, while at the same time benefiting copyright holders," he stated. 

The private plaintiffs who filed the proposed class action against Google included former New York Yankees pitcher Jim Bouton, who composed the acclaimed memoir, "Ball Four." 

The 2nd Circuit had previously turned down a similar case from the Authors Guild in June 2014 against a consortium of universities and research libraries that built a searchable online database of millions of scanned works.