Thursday, April 21, 2016

Google Books Right to a 'Universal Library'

Recently showcased on Facebook’s trending feed were articles linked about Google Books win in the case against the corporation that had begun digitizing all books and building “[...]a universal library in 2004[...]”. The New York Times, journalist Stephen Heyman reported this last October, “In 2002, when Google began experimenting with book-scanning, it took 40 minutes to scan a 300-page book. Now, a scanning operator can digitize up to 6,000 pages in an hour, according to Maggie Shiels, a Google spokeswoman. In total, more than 25 million volumes have been scanned, including texts in 400 languages from more than 100 countries.” Many believed that these actions infringe upon uploaded books and the books’ rightful content creator’s rights. This threat has been declared justified under rule of law of the US appeals court. How is it that Google was able to accelerate their project at such high capacity and justify their case? The answer lies with in a great team of individuals working to advance Google’s presence, power, and level of access which is what it is in the business of supplying customers to in Google’s dominating presence in the information industry. It almost seems as if Google is tweaking the rules users are so familiar with just to fit their needs...and it is working.

  Works Cited 

Heyman, Stephen. "Google Books: A Complex and Controversial Experiment." New York Times
    29 Oct. 2015: NA(L). Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.

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