Google (and YouTube before it was bought) has taken a variety of steps over the years to educate its users on copyright issues and discipline them when the message doesn’t get through. The latest of those is being called Copyright School; it’s a combination video and quiz that YouTube will force offenders to watch and […]
Remember the Google Book (Class Action) Settlement? It’s been some time since there’s been any news. After many months of waiting, the court handed down its decision today — a defeat for Google and those who supported the settlement. The Authors Guild brought a class action lawsuit against Google in 2005 for “massive” copyright infringement […]
A 2006 Belgian case that found Google in breach of copyright law for indexing newspaper headlines and snippets without permission is now on appeal and approaching conclusion a little over four years later. In 2007 Google was ordered to pay fines and remove links and/or obtain permission from the newspaper copyright owners before indexing their […]
At a hearing Monday in Brussels, the European Commission issued a report calling for a 7-year limit on exclusivity deals that Google and other companies are signing with libraries and other cultural institution to digitize their material. At the end of seven years, other groups would be able to use the digitized works for commercial […]
Google has rolled out its long awaited digital ebooks program, the next step in the company’s ambitious but controversial project to scan and make searchable the estimated 130 million books that exist in print versions. “The next logical iteration for us is to open up a bookstore,” said Scott Dougall, product management director for Google […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google News Dropping Sites, Reviewing Inclusion Standards Google News has recently dropped “a number” of websites that it says were not meeting the company’s quality guidelines. At the same time, the […]
While a US court is still deciding the fate of the Google book scanning settlement, the company has announced a deal with the biggest publisher in France that gives Google the go-ahead to scan some French books. But the key word there is “some.” As The New York Times reports, publishing company Hachette Livre will […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Texas Attorney General Investigating Google & Antitrust Issues Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is conducting an investigation into Google’s business practices as they relate to search listings, in particular whether Google […]
After months of being without a long-term content deal, Google and the Associated Press have finally renewed their vows. Google will continue to host AP stories on Google News and have access to AP’s news feeds without fear that the AP will make legal claims against the company. From the announcement: We’ve extended our existing […]
While the wait continues for a decision in the long-running Google Book Search lawsuit and settlement proposal, a new study throws cold water on the idea that Google Book Search is bad for the publishing industry. And the study suggests that Google’s scanning and digital previews of books may be helping publishers sell more books. […]
A group of six French newspapers is partnering to create an online news site that they hope will be an alternative to Google News. France’s National Daily Press Union announced the plan yesterday and said the virtual newsstand will be launched in September. According to the Shaping the Future of the Newspaper blog, the French […]
Google and Twitter have teamed up to support a web site that’s facing legal trouble for reporting news too quickly. Reuters reports that Google and Twitter filed a brief Monday in an appeals court case involving theflyonthewall.com, a web site that reports financial industry and stock market news. A U.S. District Court ruled earlier this […]
Google has won what appears to be a major legal victory in German (and so probably the rest of Europe) on the question of whether image search and showing thumbnails violates copyright law. The Google European Public Policy Blog succinctly describes the facts and holding: We are heartened by the German Supreme Court´s ruling today […]
The dust has settled from last week’s Fairness Hearing on the proposed Google Book Search, and now all parties are playing a waiting game. Judge Denny Chin began the hearing by announcing — to no one’s surprise — that he wouldn’t be announcing a decision during or immediately after the hearing. According to the Wall […]
Google was grated a patent that discusses a system of determining content access privileges by country/geography. While it undoubtedly has multiple uses, Google book scanning and search appears to be the primary intended use case. ArsTechnia brings it to our attention. Here’s the patent summary: A system comprising: one or more devices to implement: means […]
With a final “fairness hearing” scheduled for February 18, the US Department Of Justice has filed briefs (PDF) in opposition to the Google Book Search Amended Settlement Agreement (“ASA”). The DOJ commends the parties for their efforts to reach an amended agreement that addresses some of the problems with the original settlement but concludes that […]
Google and the Associated Press have reached an agreement allowing Google to continue using AP content. But whether this is a long-term agreement replacing the one that expired last month is unclear. And despite the agreement, AP stories won’t be hosted by Google News any time soon, it seems. Yahoo’s also struck a new deal […]
Renowned science fiction and fantasy writer Ursula K. Le Guin has launched a petition to “exempt” the US (US authors) from the terms of the Google Book Search Settlement. The text of the petition says that “Ireland, India, South Africa, and New Zealand (countries with active publication in English) protested the settlement and have been […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Docs Adds Files Storage, AKA GDrive The Google Docs blog announced a new feature that allows you to upload files and share those files with friends, co-workers and colleagues. Google […]
Google will probably be fighting legal battles in European courts and appearing before EU regulators for some time to come. For the time being Google has lost (at least for now) a copyright case in France arising from book scanning. According to Reuters: The court found against Google after the La Martiniere group, which controls […]
According to Reuters, French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand said the European Union intends to develop a plan to offer a public and pan-European alternative to Google’s book scanning project. The French, among others, filed formal objections and opposition to the Google Book Search settlement with the court in New York this past September. An amended […]
As expected, a revised Google Book Settlement has been filed today — about as late as possible. The agreement narrows the scope to the US, UK, Canada and Australia. It alters how revenue generated by “unclaimed works” will be handled. It formally grants retailers who license out-of-print books covered by the settlement — including Google […]
The clock is ticking: Google and the parties involved in the Book Search lawsuit settlement have one month from today — until November 9 — to revise the settlement and satisfy the recent objections from the US Justice Department and others. That may seem like an ambitious timeframe given the amount of objections the settlement […]
I want my, I want my, I want my OMV (Online Music Video)… Yes, that’s right! Popular music videos are about to make a comeback, not on the original music TV station per se, but on the most popular online video web site, YouTube. With just a quick query search and a click of the […]
Judge Denny Chin of the US District Court, who is presiding over the Google Book Search Settlement and was prepared to approve it until legions of opponents came forward, summarizes the dilemma facing all interested parties in his recent order (via the NY Times), taking the impending October 7 final settlement hearing off the calendar: […]
In the wake of last Friday’s objections to the Google Book lawsuit settlement, Google along with the two other parties that sued it, have asked the judge to delay further hearings on the settlement until an amended one can be put forth. Google, Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers, made this request today […]
As expected, the US Department Of Justice today has filed a list of objections and modifications it would like seen made in the proposed settlement to the Google Book Search lawsuit. It’s not saying that the settlement should go back to square one. In fact, it suggests that “momentum” potentially could be lost to improve […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Facebook’s Focus Is Friend Search; Bing ‘Sort Of’ Adds Value When it comes to search, Facebook’s focus was, is, and apparently always will be on the idea of “friend search.” That’s […]
Friday could be an important day in the ongoing battle over the Google Book Search settlement. According to the Wall Street Journal, the US Department of Justice is expected to announce its concerns over the proposed $125 million settlement of the lawsuit over Google’s scanning of copyrighted books and making them available online. The DOJ […]
As the proposed Google Book Search lawsuit settlement is debated, I’ve read calls from various critics that everything should go back to “square one” for a solution. Would Google be willing to do this? Google CEO Eric Schmidt says he’s open to ideas, but none of the critics are putting forward new solutions that would […]
The legal briefs were flying fast and furiously as all the interest groups, supporters and competitors rushed to meet a deadline for third parties to weigh in on the Google Book Search settlement. The NY Times quotes legal scholars who argue that the “quality” and volume of the filings in the case will make it […]
Google reportedly made a number of concessions to European officials concerned about the European implications of the Google Books Search settlement deal. The company is fighting on both sides of the Atlantic to gain regulatory and judicial acceptance of the deal previously announced, which has been criticized by a number of self-interested parties and legal […]
Germany has joined the growing chorus of people, groups, and even nations that are against the proposed settlement of a lawsuit over Google’s scanning of copyrighted books and making them available online. The Wall Street Journal reports that the German government filed its opposition on Monday. The full filing appears to be available on Justia.com. […]
There are several reports (see New York Times and Wall Street Journal) that Microsoft, Yahoo, and Amazon will join a coalition aimed at challenging the Google book settlement. Peter Brantley, director of the Internet Archive, which is putting the coalition together, tells the Wall Street Journal that coalition members want the agreement revised, but aren’t […]
Who owns your business details – your phone number, address, company name? As the owner of a business, do you have the right to choose where your details are listed online in search engines, directory sites, blogs, forums, social networks, and, do you have the right to force such sites to remove your details? What […]
It’s probably fair to say that the French have a love-hate relationship with American culture, companies and institutions. (The same could be said for some Americans; remember “freedom fries”?) The latest expression of the negative side of that equation in the Gallic world is disappointment over an apparently impending agreement between the French national library and […]
Newspaper attacks on Google somehow apparently overstepping fair use and stealing their material are just escalating, with a European led “Hamburg Declaration” coming out last week. Now Google’s blogged a response that basically says if you want out of Google, it’s easily done with a robots.txt file. That, of course, is what search engine savvy […]
In the works for nearly a year, Yahoo Search Pad is to formally launch tomorrow for all users. The feature is a nifty “notepad” service that allows users to collect information from search results into a single page for reference purposes. I first saw a demo last November and immediately wanted SearchPad to be live. […]
It’s not really a surprise or even news that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed yesterday it was formally investigating the terms of the Google Book Search settlement. This was known as far back as April and essentially confirmed last month by various publications reporting that formal requests (called “civil investigative demands”) had been […]
New York Law School will host a three-day conference about the Google Book Search lawsuit starting on October 8 — one day after the rescheduled fairness hearing that may decide the case’s future. You may recall that the judge in the case has already given tentative approval to the $125 million settlement, but about six […]