[LINK] What does Google Books allow you to download?

[Graham Greenleaf]

Marghanita,

Not the point ... 'download' is very different from 'full view': you 
can actually download and re-use a full copy. With 'full view' you 
can only read one page at a time, and only then embedded within a 
non-removable Google page. The difference between 'read only' and 'do 
whatever you like' (except removing Google's watermark).

The question is how Google chooses, from all the books in the public 
domain for which it provides 'full view' which ones it also allows 
'download'.

- Graham


At 4:13 PM +1000 11/9/06, Marghanita da Cruz wrote:
>Graham Greenleaf wrote:
>>Linkers,
>>
>>As of early this month, Google Books allows downloading of image 
>>PDFs of some books in the public domain. I can't figure out what 
>>policy determines which such books you can download, and which you 
>>can only view as 'Full view books'. But it is only a sub-set.
>>
>>Nothing on About Google Books explains this, and comments on the 
>>web are all along the lines of  "Google Inc. plans to begin letting 
>>consumers download and print free of charge classic novels and many 
>>other, more obscure books that are in the public domain." - none 
>>explain why some and not others.
>>
>>Can anyone shed any light on this?
><snip>
>
>text below is 
>from<http://books.google.com/intl/en/googlebooks/screenshots.html#fullview>
>
>>No Preview Available  |  Snippet View  |  Limited Preview  |  Full View
>>
>>No Preview Available
>>
>>Like a card catalog, you're able to see basic information about the 
>>book. However, you'll also be able to know if your search term 
>>appears anywhere in the book's text, even if it's not in the title 
>>or index.
>>
>>Snippet View
>>
>>The Snippet View, like a card catalog, shows information about the 
>>book plus a few snippets - a few sentences of your search term in 
>>context.
>>
>>Limited Preview
>>
>>If the publisher or author has given us permission, users can see a 
>>limited number of pages from the book. Full  View
>>
>>You can see books in the Full View if the book is out of copyright, 
>>or if the publisher or author has asked to make the book fully 
>>viewable. The Full View allows you to view any page from the book.
>
>This book is worth a read and also available on google books...
>at 
><http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0521534267&id=EGwWmEjL6hoC&pg=PA3&lpg=PR7&vq=one+tell&sig=9Na51SsU_kEJfqHjbIfJ3qlhGWI>
>
>>Corporate Collapse: Accounting, Regulatory and Ethical Failure
>>By Frank Clarke, Graeme Dean, Kyle Oliver
>....
>>Page displayed by permission.
>>Published by Cambridge University Press
>
>M
>--
>Marghanita da Cruz
>Ramin Communications
>http://www.ramin.com.au
>Phone: 0414-869202
>Email: marghanita at ramin.com.au
>
>
>
>
>
>
>--
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-- 
--
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Graham Greenleaf   

Professor of Law          
Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales   
UNSW SYDNEY NSW 2052  Australia (UNSW CRICOS Provider No: 00098G)     
Co-Director, Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII)
Co-Director, Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre
General Editor, Privacy Law & Policy Reporter

E-mail: g.greenleaf at unsw.edu.au or graham at austlii.edu.au
Web Pages -  http://www2.austlii.edu.au/~graham/
Legal Scholarship Network (LSN) pages - http://ssrn.com/author=57970
Tel: +61 2 9385 2233 (UNSW) +61 2 9569 5310 (Home)
Fax: +61 2 9385 1175 (UNSW) Office: Room 224, Law Faculty Building, UNSW
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