Quote of the Day
"I cannot imagine a definition of fair use that would not encompass the transformative uses made by Defendants’ MDP and would require that I terminate this invaluable contribution to the progress of science and cultivation of the arts that at the same time effectuates the ideals espoused by the ADA." - Hon.Harold Baer, Jr
On Wednesday, a federal district judge held that the mass digitization of books and other printed material by university libraries, funded by Google, was a fair use. The decision was a blow for The Authors Guild, which brought the lawsuit. At the heart of the litigation was, as Publishers Weekly described it, "a digitization collective of research libraries . . . built with millions of “unauthorized” scans created by Google." What the HathiTrust litigation makes clear is that the struggle over copyright is sometimes complicated, but not in this instance. As the music business learned (or should have learned), suing moms and groups of students for sharing music files does not endear you to the general public. Likewise, the prospect of denying library patrons with print disabilities access to books and other print materials, didn't go over big with Judge Harold Baer, Jr.
