Greetings, Google Book Search supporters --

In December, novelist Susan Cheever, a member of the Authors Guild,
published " Just Google 'thou shalt not
steal<http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsday.com%2Fnews%...>,'"
an article suggesting that there's some kind of official word limit, or
percentage limit, to material you can copy in order for it to qualify as

"The Copyright Statute…includes a 'fair use' clause, so that a few lines or
phrases of a writer's work can be used as illustration by someone else.
...The amount of words that constitute fair use varies according to court
case. *At present, it is 400 words*. …Google cites 'fair use,' but it isn't
using 400 words; it plans to digitize whole libraries and make them
available piece by piece." (Emphasis added.)

Even this small quotation from Cheever's article fundamentally misstates
copyright law and misleads readers about Google Book Search..

First, no such 400-word rule exists. Indeed, in some cases courts have ruled
that copying and republishing the entire work is fair use. (You can read
about one such court decision
here<http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eff.org%2Fnews%2Far...>
.)

Second, Google does not show more than two or three sentences without the
author's permission. And that's not all. If a copyright holder chooses not
to participate in Google Book Search, not a single word from the book will
appear in any searches.

Here's where you come in. One of the reasons we set up this mailing list is
that we hope you, our supporters, can help clear the air when misleading
articles like this one are published. When Stanford law professor Lawrence
Lessig posted<http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lessig.org%2Fblog%2...>his
excellent video presentation last month to clarify the facts about
Google Book Search, we began to envision bloggers joining in.

If you want to help set the record straight, consider this your invitation
to get involved. Below are links to resources where you can find accurate
information about Google Book Search, copyright and fair use. If you see a
misleading article or blog post, we encourage you to write a letter to the
editor, post a comment or blog about the facts.

Lawrence Lessig: Is Google Book Search Fair Use?
http://www.youtube.com/?v=5l2nrbmBQXg
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2F%3Fv%...>

The Google Library Project: The Copyright Debate:
http://ala.org/ala/washoff/oitp/googlepaprfnl.pdf
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=http%3A%2F%2Fala.org%2Fala%2Fwashoff...>

Stanford Copyright & Fair Use Center
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/<http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=http%3A%2F%2Ffairuse.stanford.edu%2F>

Chilling Effects: FAQ About Copyright and Fair Use
http://www.chillingeffects.org/fairuse/faq.cgi
<http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chillingeffects.org...>

Thank you for your support!

Alexander Macgillivray and Jen Grant