Publishers’ Group Asks Google to Stop Scanning Copyrighted Works for 6 Months, from the Chronicle
The Association of American Publishers has asked Google to stop scanning copyrighted books published by the association’s members for at least six months while the company answers questions about whether its plan to scan millions of volumes in five major research libraries complies with copyright law.
“We’ve simply asked for a six-month moratorium to facilitate discussion” in an environment “where there isn’t going to be the tension of ongoing practices that some of our members may object to.”
… Officials of the publishing group would not release the text of the letter itself, saying that they want to give Google officials time to respond before doing so.
Yeah, right, whatever. Seems to me that if the AAP were serious about wanting to facilitate discussion, they’d release the text of the letter, as a way of jump-starting that discussion.