UC and the Google Book Settlement

By admin / June 9, 2009

In August 2006, the University of California became the sixth library to partner with Google to digitize volumes from UC’s extensive print collections as part of the Google Book Search Library Project. In October 2008, Google announced a settlement of a class action lawsuit by the Authors Guild of America and a separate suit by representative members of the Association of American Publishers, both of which sought to bar Google from scanning copies of in-copyright books held in the collections of major U.S. libraries. A court hearing on the settlement, which must be approved by the courts in order for it to take effect, is scheduled for October 7, 2009.

UC and the Google Book Settlement

The University of California became the sixth Google partner library in August 2006 when UC signed an agreement with Google to digitize 2.5 million volumes from UC library collections. Earlier partner libraries include the University of Michigan, Stanford University, Harvard University, the New York Public Library, and Oxford University. (A full list of Google partner libraries is available here.)

In October 2008, Google announced a settlement of a class action lawsuit by the Authors Guild of America and a separate suit by representative members of the Association of American Publishers, both of which sought to bar Google from scanning copies of in-copyright books held in the collections of major U.S. libraries as part of its Google Book Search Library Project.

The UC Libraries are founding partners of the HathiTrust, a library-led initiative to archive digital content. The Hathi Trust is an important complement to digitization initiatives with Google.

UC documents

UC Libraries Google Book Digitization Agreement, August 2006. [PDF]
Highlights of the Amended Settlement Agreement [PDF] that was filed with the court on November 13th, 2009, have been prepared by the UC libraries.
Frequently Asked Questions [PDF], prepared by the California Digital Library, provide UC faculty and other members of the UC community with detailed information about how both they and the UC libraries will be affected by the Settlement Agreement if it is approved.
In August, 2009, the UC libraries prepared a document [PDF] describing the Settlement’s benefits and their understanding of how concerns identified in consultation with the faculty will be addressed.
Hurtling towards the finish: should the Google Books Settlement be approved? by Ivy Anderson, Director of Collections, California Digital Library, February 16, 2010.