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Larry Summers Resigns!!!!!!!!!

Ding, dong indeed. Seems he did not have the natural aptitudes necessary to lead a major American research university. Must have been his testicles getting in the way all the time. I am particularly gratified because Summers was struggling to... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on February 21, 2006 12:58 PM

More on Google's Book Search "standards"

Liz Losh writes: Indeed, it's hard to get straight answers from reading Google materials, but reviews in the venerable Search Engine Watch seem to indicate that Google might not even support library standards like Dublin Core or the Library of... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on February 21, 2006 12:33 PM

Google does not consider US Copyright Act in the Public Domain

Rick Prelinger explains: But there's one really distressing thing happening here. U.S. government documents are, by law, in the public domain, as they are produced with taxpayer funds. The only exceptions to public domain status are a limited number of... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on February 21, 2006 11:37 AM

The Great Unanswered Questions: Can Google do it right?

Through all the hype and lawsuits and screaming and dreaming surrounding the Google Book Search/Library project, I have been trying to get people asking important qualitative questions. • Can Google actually do what it says it will do? • What... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on February 20, 2006 07:16 PM

Carlos Ovalle brings straight talk and common sense to the Google debate

Carlos Ovalle teaches in the library school at the (National Champion) University of Texas. His wonderful blog, copy this blog � offers this take on the Google thing: From a copyright perspective, I think it would be great if Google’s... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on February 17, 2006 04:18 PM

It's official: I am "living in a fantasy land"

Not Liz writes: My biggest problem with Siva is as follows: He whines and moans about library-this and library-that, trying to make the case that Google should not be involved, because this is somehow robbing libraries of their god-given mission... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on February 16, 2006 02:40 PM

Cory Doctorow on Google Library: Publishers should thank Google

Boing Boing: Why Publishing Should Send Fruit-Baskets to Google: Google's new Book Search promises to save writers' and publishers' asses by putting their books into the index of works that are visible to searchers who get all their information from... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on February 14, 2006 12:19 PM

Madison and Vaidhyanathan on the U Mich President's Google Speech

Michael Madison's blog has some interesting stuff in the comments about the speech that U Michigan President Coleman made in defense of the Google Library project. Here is part of the back-and-forth that Michael and I have had: # Siva... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on February 9, 2006 06:11 PM

U of Michigan President defends Google Library

This is from the speech she gave at the meeting of the American Association of Publishers: It is this criticism of the project that prompted me to accept your invitation to speak — and explain why we believe this is... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on February 7, 2006 03:08 PM

The Frequency of 'Fair Use'

I did a search of Lexis/Nexis among major US newspapers to find the frequency of stories containing "copyright" and "fair use." "Fair use" is a good proxy for stories that describe an actual conflict or lawsuit. Also, because few of... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on January 31, 2006 10:43 AM

Going Beyond Fair Use: Google Library

Tarleton Gillespie has written a very insightful piece: ... What I think we’re after is something more straightforward, but nearly impossible to achieve. In this dream scenario, every author would make his or her work available in a digital form... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on January 30, 2006 09:26 AM

My Google Library article in PDF

Click here to get the article from the Chronicle of Higher Education.... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on January 25, 2006 11:23 AM

Siva on OpenSource Radio tonight: Google and Privacy

Open Source is a great public radio show. I did a segment for them a few weeks back on Google Library. Today we talk about privacy and the feds, and what Google is doing to protect us.... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on January 23, 2006 05:38 PM

More on Fair Use, Transaction Costs, and Google

Brett Frischmann over at madisonian.net has a great post that explains the extent to which we should consider transaction costs central to fair use defenses. But I had to quibble with his conclusion. Here is what I wrote in the... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on January 18, 2006 06:06 PM

Lessig lecture on Google Library and Fair Use

Here is a video of Lawrence Lessig's slides and lecture. As y'all know, I strongly disagree with his analysis. I am working up a direct response. Stay tuned.... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on January 16, 2006 03:35 PM

A great response/criticism of my Google Library article

aTypical Joe: A gay New Yorker living in the rural south has much more faith in Google to do the right thing than I do. He believes in corporations to do what they say. I believe in them to do... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on December 20, 2005 05:45 PM

The Australian Debate on Google Library

Google: Search or Destroy? in openDemocracy Google: Search or Destroy? Google stands accused of copyright infringement by two major American authors’ associations and a French newswire. But the tools the company provides have done more to promote global access to... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on December 19, 2005 08:04 PM

Podcast of Open Source radio show on PRI: Google Library

Open Source is a great show. They recorded for an hour. Several important and interesting people gave their thoughts on Google and the future of books. Subscribe to the Podcast. It's very good. UPDATE: HERE is the MP3 of the... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on December 6, 2005 03:52 PM

Brilliant stuff on Google Book Search (Print Library whatever)

From Ben Vershbow of if:book: What irks me about the usual debate is that it forces you into a position of either resisting Google or being its apologist. But this fails to get at the real bind we all are... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on December 5, 2005 01:56 PM

Siva in Chronicle of Higher Ed: A Risky Gamble with Google

Here is that long article I have been promising. I am also working on a much longer scholarly article. I will post a draft of that in January or February. I have to confess, I am thrilled and dazzled by... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on November 28, 2005 08:17 AM

On the "Google Print Book Search Publisher Partner Library Project Program": How we know Google is not like other companies

Ok. I promised I would not blog until mid-December. Yet here I am. It's 2:40 a.m. in New York. It's cold and rainy outside. Instead of sleeping peacefully, I am letting our dog Ellie keep my place warm in the... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on November 22, 2005 03:37 AM

Siva on NPR on Google Print Library

Here and Now, a program from WBUR in Boston, did a decent segment on Thursday about Google Print Library. It opens with me offering background on the project and some of my views. Then it gets into a debate between... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on November 18, 2005 08:27 PM

Anti-Intellectual Property

Pat Schroeder is President of the Association of American Publishers (in other words, she is a lobbyist in the Hillary Rosen and Jack Valenti mode) and a former member of Congress from Colorado. Back in the day, she was a... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on November 7, 2005 09:33 PM

Taking a Break from Sivacracy

Dear Friends: I am way behind on a couple of major projects. My tenure file is under review by my department right now. And I have a bunch of other things going on in my life (all good). I really... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on October 28, 2005 11:35 AM

Wonderful Debate over Google Library

ACRLog: Tony Sanfilippo Says: October 20th, 2005 at 4:36 pm What about the effect this will have on the non-profit university press community? Mr. Lessig is free to give away all the content he wants, as long as it's his.... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on October 28, 2005 10:09 AM

Laura Quilter on the Conflation of Evils in the Google Library debate

This is important: We should be concerned about Google Print's contractual restrictions on holders of its scanned works. But we should not fear Google simply for being the first entrant into the market. Google turns out to be evil? Implementing... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on October 27, 2005 10:36 AM

Derek responds on Google: 'not a library, but so what?'

Derek's post title is "Google is not a library, but so what?" This, frankly, saddens me. It means that somehow the understanding of the role and nature of libraries has decayed to the point of being "information warehouses." Ugh. There... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on October 27, 2005 10:04 AM

More on the Corporate Nature of Google

From gnuosphere: Is Google The Right "Person" For The Job? I couldn't agree more. Google's informal corporate motto of "Don't Be Evil" is irrelevant. Google is a for-profit corporation. This means neither good nor evil as Google's capacity for "personhood"... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on October 26, 2005 12:17 PM

Derek Slater says "Game On" for Google Print

He makes a strong case: Again, Siva's real fear appears not to be the meltdown caused by Google Print the case, but what he speculates will come after. When I look at the Google Print case, I say "game on"... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on October 25, 2005 05:06 PM

Now Publishers are Suing Google, too

From Tech News on ZDNet: The Association of American Publishers has filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging the Internet company's plans to scan and digitally distribute the text of major library collections would violate copyright protections.... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on October 19, 2005 02:15 PM

Transcript of On The Media on Google Print

"STEAL THIS BOOK"" href="http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/transcripts_093005_book.html">You can read it here or below.... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on October 12, 2005 02:50 PM

Should the Authors' Guild be suing the libraries instead?

From LawPundit: But is the library entitled to make these copies (or have these copies made for hire?) Under §108 of the U.S. Copyright Act the library is entitled to make ONE copy of copyrighted works, provided that "the reproduction... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on October 3, 2005 03:45 PM

On Google Library: "On The Media" Podcast is up

This week on NPR's show, "On the Media" you can here me explain at length about Google Print Library.... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on October 1, 2005 08:48 AM

Siva on NPR's 'On The Media'

This Sunday I will appear on the NPR show On the Media. I will be talking about Google Print/Library. Should be fun. I will post a link to the podcast next week.... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on September 30, 2005 03:44 PM

Rethinking Google Library

William Patry has: I have increasingly come to find the traditional four factor fair use analysis not only unhelpful, but harmful to looking at uses that may promote the progress of science and not injure copyright owners' interests. We would... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on September 26, 2005 02:11 PM

Wonderful Summary of Google Print/Library Comments

From the IPTAblog. It rounds up comments from just about everybody. Must read.... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on September 22, 2005 05:38 PM

Google: Betting the Company

Michael Madison gets it exactly right when he explains that this showdown over Google Print Library is aBet-the-Company Case: Since Google Print is in many copyright-related ways indistinguishable from Google's core search functionality, Eric Goldman points out in a Comment... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on September 22, 2005 08:46 AM

Fred von Lohman's Fair Use Defense of Google Library

Yesterday some members of the Author's Guild filed suit against Google over its library project. Here is EFF lawyer Fred von Lohman's fair use analysis of how these cases might go: Nature of the Use: Favors Google. Although Google's use... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on September 21, 2005 06:39 PM

Authors Request Injunction Against Google Project

From this morning's NYTimes - "Three authors filed suit against Google yesterday contending that the company's program to create searchable digital copies of the contents of several university libraries constituted 'massive copyright infringement' . . . Each of the plaintiffs... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on September 21, 2005 10:24 AM

Newsweek on The Wiring of Campus

From the Newsweek Education section ... Now schools—once leaders in American technology—find themselves running to keep up. Siva Vaidhyanathan, a New York University professor of communications, says technologies are changing so rapidly that "it's radically different" from when he was... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on August 23, 2005 02:42 PM

Two Responses Re: Google and Libraries

From Altercation: Name: J. Landes Hometown: London, England Hi Dr. Eric, After reading Dr. Vaidhyanathan’s writing about libraries, I couldn't resist. If it is in any way redundant or off-topic, just ignore me. I would just like to respond to... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on August 22, 2005 12:19 PM

Can Google do This?: The September Project

My former colleague Wayne Wiegand (formerly of Wisconsin, now of Florida State) uses a phrase to describe his scholarly mission, studying "the library in the life of the user." That means getting beyond the functional ways users use library services... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on August 18, 2005 02:45 PM

On the Essense of Libraries and Fair Use

Laura Quilter offers her view of libraries and the challenges they face: I’d like to suggest two basic functions for libraries: One is warehousing and archiving physical collections; serving effectively as a museum of information. The second function is providing... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on August 18, 2005 02:17 PM

A Librarian from Wisconsin Weighs In on Google and Libraries

Eileen Snyder from Madison writes: The question of whether Google could be considered a library goes to the heart of the question that librarians have been faced with since the enormous growth of the Internet. What is the role of... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on August 17, 2005 06:11 PM

The Madisonian Take on Libraries

Michael Madison offers his thoughts on libraries: I’m not a professional librarian, and I didn’t train at library school or in IS, so I don’t have a professional librarian’s sense of mission. I like libraries. But I have to ask... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on August 17, 2005 02:10 PM

Is Google a Library?

Michael Madison writes: In response to Siva's post about Google Print and fair use, Laura Quilter weighs in, hoping to push the definition of "library" in Google's direction -- and toward a more expansive view of fair use. Google's best... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on August 16, 2005 12:58 PM

Another Great Reponse to the Google thing

From Laura Quilter: Usually I agree (not slavishly. who said slavishly?) with everything Siva (and his minions on Sivacracy) has to say, but I have to disagree with him here on a couple of points. First, the for-profit corporation issue.... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on August 15, 2005 12:09 PM

Google Library and the Law

This article makes a similar argument to what I have been making: GOOGLE LIBRARY: BEYOND FAIR USE? By Elisabeth Hanratty Abstract Last December Google announced the formation of partnerships with select major libraries to begin digitizing and storing the libraries'... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on August 14, 2005 02:38 PM

Seth Drops some Science on the Google Thing

This might be the smartest thing written about Google Print/Library. Google Print: Copyright vs. Innovation vs. commercial value Let's step back for a moment. Why is Google doing this book-scanning project? It's not because it's just so cool (even if... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on August 13, 2005 12:02 PM

Why I think Google's Library Plan was Out of Bounds

Many people have written me asking me to elaborate on why I thought Google was out of line when it planned to copy millions of library books without permission from the copyright holder. I am writing a paper about Google... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on August 13, 2005 08:11 AM

Boing Boing on the Google Library Move

Xeni has posted many of the reactions to Google's decision to stop scanning copyrighted books. She included mine, as well. BTW, I will be talking about Google Library on PRI's Marketplace show on public radio Monday morning. Listen in.... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on August 12, 2005 04:11 PM

Google Avoids Copyright Meltdown

Aaron Swartz of Copyfight informs us that Copyfight > " href="http://www.corante.com/copyfight/archives/2005/08/12/google_sells_out_users_to_publishers.php">"Google Sells Out Users to Publishers" As you undoubtedly recall, months ago Google launched their Google Print Library Project scanning thousands of books from the country's libraries for potential search,... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on August 12, 2005 12:42 PM

Library Journal talks to me about Grokster

Library Journal, the leading trade publication for American libraries, carries a short interview with me about the fallout of the Grokster case. In a stunning, unanimous decision, the Supreme Court in the case of MGM v. Grokster recently ruled that... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on August 8, 2005 03:57 PM

Orphan Works

Fron today's Chron: Whose Work Is It, Anyway? The use of 'orphan works' of art and literature, whose creators cannot be identified, puts scholars and artists at odds over changes in copyright law By SCOTT CARLSON "Like many other scholars... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on July 25, 2005 09:09 AM

Google and the Wayback Machine

Remember when I mused in Salon.com that Google could be in copyright trouble some day (because of cacheing and the print project, which is proceeding sans permission from publishers)? Well copyright expert William Patry reports that the wonderful Wayback Machine... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on July 12, 2005 11:25 AM

Google-Watch uncovers U of Michigan-Google contract!

Gotta love it! The Republicans have not yet shut down the Freedom of Information process in this country! The great site Google-Watch got the University of Michigan to reveal its previously top-secret deal with Google to allow Google to digitize... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on June 17, 2005 09:59 AM

More on the Google Deal

After the jump I have reposted the excellent comments on Google that Sivacracy readers Jessamyn (major voice in the library community) and Michael Zimmer (super-smart doctoral student in my department) posted. I made their suggested links hot. Please read their... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on June 6, 2005 11:19 AM

The Google Deal

I am writing a paper/talk about the Google deal with libraries. I could use your help. What are the major questions/issues that this deal raise for the public? For libraries? For publishers? Overall, good for humans or bad? The Chronicle... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on June 1, 2005 03:33 PM

NY Public Library Brings Archive Online

New York Public Library Introduces Free Online Archive of 275,000 Images, By DAN CARNEVALE in today's Chron: The New York Public Library unveiled on Wednesday a free, searchable database of 275,000 photographs and manuscripts from its collection. The database, called... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on March 3, 2005 07:34 AM

What to Make of Google and the Public Domain

Lawrence Lessig explains that Google's library plan will only further reveal the absurdities of the current copyright system. But the excitement around Google's extraordinary plan has obscured a dirty little secret: It is not at all clear that Google and... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on January 14, 2005 09:50 AM

Salon's 2005 Predictions About the Google Library

Salon.com futuristically predicts Google will delete its electronic library... Just weeks after announcing ambitious plans to digitize millions of books from five major libraries, Google burns down its electronic Alexandria before even really starting it. The problem isn't the anticipated... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on January 3, 2005 04:40 PM

The Google Libroogle Boondoogle

Read the NYT's 12/21/04 editorial entitledThe Electronic Library and see if it makes as little sense to you as it does to me. Below are some Annotated (get it?) excerpts: "Last week, Google announced an ambitious new plan to start... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on December 21, 2004 01:53 PM

The Google Library

Will we have to call it the Libroogle? 12/18/04 NYT story below: Questions and Praise for Google Web Library, by FELICIA R. LEE When Randall C. Jimerson, the president of the Society of American Archivists, heard of Google's plan to... [Edit]

Posted in SIVACRACY.NET on December 18, 2004 11:12 AM