Google in Germany on CHE Blog

[Ann Okerson <ann.okerson@yale.edu>]

[MOD NOTE:  More on the Google Germany story]

Google Wins in Germany

A German court has handed Google's controversial book-scanning 
project a significant victory, encouraging a publishing company 
to drop its efforts to file a preliminary injunction against the 
search juggernaut.

Like many other publishing houses, Wissenschaftliche 
Buchgesellschaft (WBG) had objected to the digitization project, 
arguing that Google's plan to post snippets of copyrighted books 
amounted to a violation of German copyright law.

WBG sought an injunction that would prevent Google from scanning 
its books, but the German court?the copyright chamber of a 
regional court in Hamburg?was unreceptive. The court did not rule 
specifically against WBG, but judges told the publisher that it 
was unlikely to receive the injunction it sought. WBG decided to 
abandon its efforts shortly thereafter, according to the 
Guardian.

In a statement posted online today, Google representatives 
defended the legality of their book-scanning project and said 
they were "delighted" by WBG's decision to drop its petition.

###copyright 2006 Chronicle of Higher Education