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Google-Random House In For Book Search Contract

By admin ⋅ October 13, 2007 ⋅  Send this to a friend.. ⋅  Print this article. ⋅ Post a comment ⋅ Add to Technorati Favorites

The world’s biggest book publisher “RANDOM HOUSE”, is thinking at joining a book-search venture led by Google, once considered an arch-enemy by the paper publishing industry.The two parties are talking to one another about the less controversial part of Google’s book-scanning project, its partner program, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters at this week’s Frankfurt Book Fair.

Google has agreements with more than 10,000 publishers, large and small, who give their books to Google to be scanned in full. Google then makes them partially available - according to agreements with each publisher - for online readers.It also works with 27 academic and reference library partners to gain access to out-of-print works.

Random House, a part of German media group ‘Bertelsmann’, has until now held out and not joined the publisher partner program, which can help boost book sales, especially of publishers’ so-called backlists of older titles.

When asked this week whether the parties were close to an agreement, a Random House spokesman said: “Random House continues to have periodic constructive conversations with Google on issues of mutual relevance.”
Google refused to comment.

Random House, as a member of the American Association of Publishers, says it continues to support a U.S. copyright case filed against Google in 2005 and funded by the association.

The lawsuit - brought by Penguin, Pearson, McGraw-Hill, Wiley and Simon & Schuster - aims to stop Google from scanning in-copyright works it gets from its library partners without explicit permission from publishers.
Reports are in that Random House was considering healing its rift with Google”.

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