What the Google Books Victory Means for Readers

[Commentary] In a narrow sense, the decade-long litigation over Google Books ended with a judgment about the balance of various factors for a specific project: a large company scanning and indexing the contents of millions of volumes. But critically, and with greater and lasting impact, the case also helped to clarify fair use in general.

Authors Guild v. Google stands to make fair use much more muscular. Because many institutions want to avoid legal and financial risk, many possible uses that the courts would find fair -- including a number of non-commercial, educational uses -- are simply never attempted. A clearer fair-use principle, with stronger support from the courts, will make libraries and similar organizations more confident about pursuing forms of broader digital access. After all, as Judge Leval emphasized: “While authors are undoubtedly important intended beneficiaries of copyright, the ultimate, primary intended beneficiary is the public.” It may have taken 10 years, but that crucial reminder of copyright’s goal is anything but dated and inconsequential. It will serve all of us as we think about how books are written, read, and preserved for future generations.