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AAUP Quizzes 'Google Print for Libraries'

Interesting politicking going on with Business Week magazine and Google's Print for Libraries program.

Out of the blue, they now print a letter from the executive director of the Association of American University Presses to Google senior counsel, Alexander Macgillivray.

It seems that AAUP members were initially enthusiastic about Google Print, but are now concerned over the library scanning program, saying it "appears to involve systematic infringement of copyright on a massive scale."

The letter poses a series of 16 detailed questions and points to currently gray areas in the library scanning program. But the largest objection is that Google kept the library venture secret even while negotiating with publishers for rights to the basic Google Print program.

The letter goes on to say that, "At the recent meeting of scientific, technical and medical publishers in Washington, your colleague J.R. Needham, if I heard him correctly, told us that it was unnecessary for Google to clear permissions for Google Print for Libraries with those publishers who had agreed to participate in Google Print for Publishers, because they had already given their consent. These facts are simply wrong. Publishers' contracts for Google Print are title-specific and can't be interpreted as a blanket license. Furthermore, no publisher knew about Google Print for Libraries until it was announced in mid-December."

Hmm - this will either lead to "clarity" in Google's position or more aggressive action in opposition to the program.