The Authors Guild files to take Google to the Supreme Court

The Authors Guild has officially asked the Supreme Court to hear its case against Google -- a long-running dispute over whether copyright law allows for Google to scan and post excerpts from books for its Google Books service. The group filed a writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court Dec 31.

Google's free service allows users to search for particular lines or quotes in books through the company's main search engine, and also displays parts of scanned pages of books. The Authors Guild and Google have fought for 10 years over whether that qualifies as "fair use." The Authors Guild first complained in 2005 that this violates copyright and undermines the value of authors' work by providing their books online and for free. The group has argued that Google Books, essentially, gives people access to their work without having to pay for it. It also objected to Google's partnerships with libraries to provide this online material. The Authors Guild does not want to shut Google Books down, but it does want Google to pay copyright fees, said Mary Rasenberger, executive director of the Authors Guild and a copyright attorney.