Copyright law in the United States is often convoluted and backward. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is considered by many to be the anathema of the free exchange of ideas that the Internet symbolizes for many. However, a recent court case involving Google reflects one of the exceptional properties of U.S. copyright law — “fair use.”
“Fair use” encompasses the use of a work or quotation for something other than its intended purpose. This principle is why “Family Guy” can parody “Star Wars,” why search engines are legal and why using an image as a thumbnail is distinct from using it to entertain or inform whoever accesses it.
The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit federal court ruled Oct. 16 that the Google Books Library Project was protected under the principle of fair use. Since 2004, Google has scanned more than 20 million books, which makes them searchable through the Google Books search engine, according to the New York Times. Similar to Amazon, this allows a limited portion of the text to be online, which is what spurred the Authors Guild, an organization of writers, to sue Google.
The case hinged on whether or not Google’s use of the works was “transformative,” or if it substantially changed the source material to be covered under fair use. The court found it to be sufficiently transformative, given limited selections of the text were accessible given a search and one out of every 10 pages was unavailable, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Furthermore, the libraries from which almost all of these books were scanned were given free access to the works they scanned but would be required to pay for works from other libraries.
This decision, I believe, has officially opened up a resource that students have been occasionally using for years. Being able to find even part of a book on a subject you’re researching is not only useful for students but vital for discovering out-of-print books. It is, as Google said in a statement, a “card catalog for the digital age.”
The application of fair use is still not consistent across the board, even in regards to Google. Most people who spend much time on YouTube realize how harsh the hand of unapplied fair use can be.
Nintendo is especially infamous in this regard, forcing YouTubers who want to post videos with any of their intellectual property to register their channel with them and taking a significant portion of the ad-revenue the video produces, according to bgr.com.
YouTube is entirely at fault for not thoroughly incorporating fair use into its system. The hypocrisy of Google for not upholding fair use in all of its assets is disconcerning, and I am disheartened by its continued abuse on YouTube.
So Google, why don’t you re-examine your fair use policies? It’s the least you could do for a country that’s upheld your most important programs.
mccinkos@indiana.edu
@matthewcinkoske
