By Lawrence Lessig in the Los Angeles Times:
"Last month, Google announced a partnership with major research libraries to scan 20 million books for inclusion in Google's search database. For those works in the public domain, the full text will be available. For those works still possibly under copyright, only snippets will be seen. The potential of this project is only beginning to be understood — it is likely to bring about the most dramatic changes in the nature of research and the spread of culture since the birth of Google itself.
Google's gamble shows that it is time for Congress to listen to both the content industry and the digital entrepreneurs. Our culture should be available for anyone — not just a deep-pockets Google — to build on and spread, consistent with the purpose of copyright law. The law's inefficiencies should not block that opportunity.
Reforms designed to clarify copyrights would allow Google to do more with our cultural and intellectual past without legal worries. They would also allow others, at very low cost, to do the very same."
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