Publishers sue Google over plan to scan books

NEW YORK (AP) — Just weeks after a leading authors' organization sued Google Inc. for copyright infringement, the Association of American Publishers has also filed suit against the search engine giant's plans to scan and index books for the Internet.

Under the Google Print Library Project, millions of copyrighted books from three major university libraries — Harvard, Stanford and Michigan — will be indexed on the Internet unless the copyright holder notifies the company by Nov. 1 about which volumes should be excluded. Two other libraries, Oxford University and the New York Public Library, will contribute only out-of-copyright materials.

Google has called the project an invaluable chance for books to receive increased exposure. The library project is an offshoot of the Google Print program, for which publishers voluntarily submit copyrighted material.

But in papers filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the publishers association sought a ruling that would support an injunction against illegal scanning.