Microsoft, which is boosting its efforts to catch up to Google in the search arena, used yesterday’s AAP annual meeting to make a highly charged pitch to differentiate Microsoft’s approach to creating searchable databases from that of its competitor. Unsurprisingly, the major difference articulated by Microsoft associate general counsel Thomas Rubin is Microsoft’s respect for copyright, compared to what he described as Google’s disregard for the concerns of copyright holders. All of Microsoft’s initiatives to expand search access to books are being done without violating copyright, Rubin maintained.
Microsoft has two projects–Live Search Books Academic and Live Search Books–that are currently beta testing. Both respect the intellectual property of copyright holders, Rubin said; the two initiatives are using only books that are out of copyright, in the public domain or have been supplied to Microsoft by their publishing partners. Google’s decision to scan books from the collections of its library partners that are still under copyright resulted in ongoing lawsuits from publishers and authors. By including copyrighted books in its Google Book Search, the company “turned its back” on its publishing partners, Rubin asserted.
Google’s approach may allow it to create a searchable database quicker than Microsoft, but the path taken by Microsoft will be better for authors and publishers in the long term, Rubin said, since Microsoft will work with its partners to help them make money from the search projects. Microsoft wants to enhance the value of works online, not merely “rake in billions of dollars” from content created by others, Rubin said. While Rubin contended that Google’s approach does not let publishers and authors profit from Google Book Search, publishers do receive money from ads placed against their titles.
Extract taken from;
Microsoft Takes Google to Task over Copyright
PW Daily — Publishers Weekly, 3/7/2007