Yahoo and digital books

["Hamaker, Chuck" <cahamake@email.uncc.edu>]

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

*  YAHOO INC. HAS TEAMED UP with academic and other libraries on 
   a project that could potentially bring the complete texts of 
   millions of volumes into digital form. Yahoo officials say 
   that the project is not a response to Google's Library 
   Project and that, unlike that venture, it will not scan any 
   copyrighted books without permission.
   --> SEE http://chronicle.com/free/2005/10/2005100301t.htm

Another search engine company has joined with academic libraries to
digitize large collections of books to make them easily searchable online.
Yahoo Inc. has teamed up with the University of California, the University
of Toronto, and several archives and technology companies on a project
that could potentially bring the complete texts of millions of volumes
into digital form.

Yahoo officials say that the project is not a response to Google's
partnership with five major research libraries to scan millions of books,
and that some planning for the Yahoo project was under way before Google
announced its plans last December.

The new archive is called the Open Content Alliance, and it was conceived
in part by Brewster Kahle, director of the Internet Archive, a nonprofit
digital library. The archive will be doing much of the actual scanning for
the project, using a process it has developed in recent years. Libraries
involved in the project can have their books scanned by the Internet
Archive for 10 cents per page, which leaders of the project say is far
below the standard price of scanning.

Other participants in the project are Adobe, the European Archive, the
National Archives of England, O'Reilly Media, and Hewlett Packard Labs.
The project hopes to attract other libraries and other partners, however,
as well as more financial support.

Leaders of the project stressed that no books that are under copyright
will be scanned unless the copyright holders give explicit permission.
....

In fact, one publishing group that has been critical of Google's project,
the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers, has
endorsed the Yahoo plan. In a press release, Sally Morris, chief executive
of the association, said, "We welcome the launch of the OCA because its
approach respects the rights of publishers and other copyright owners."

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