GOOGLE'S COPYING iS FAIR USE

On October 16, 2015, the Second Circuit found that Google's copying of published books for its Library Project and Google Books Project is fair use under 17 USC 107 and not infringing.  Authors Guild v. Google, Inc., No. 13-4829 (2d Cir. Oct. 16, 2015). Particularly, the Second Circuit found that Google's copying is transformative use and therefore, communicates something new and different from the original, and serving copyright's overall objective of contributing to the public knowledge. According to the Court, making digital copies of published books to enable a search on a term of interest involved a high transformative purpose.