News & Trends: Countdown to the Google Book Search Settlement Review

Big Questions
Most do not question the benefit of enabling millions of book titles to be searchable on the Web. This type of consumer access can only be positive.

At the heart of many criticisms are legal principles: fair use and antitrust issues. Giving Google permission to copy, use and profit from copyrighted material without prior permission from the rights holders opens the door for others to do the same. On the flip side, awarding a financial settlement to authors and publishers opens the door for publishers and authors to sue other search engines.