Yahoo said Thursday that Google will have to get a court order for information Google has subpoenaed from Yahoo in relation to a copyright-infringement lawsuit filed by book publishers and authors.Yahoo Hands Setback To Google In Book Publishers' Suit - Technology News by TechWeb
The Google Book Search Library Project involves scanning library books, including some copyrighted books, which has drawn fire from publishers and writers.
It first started with Mp3s. Sharing the files caught on like rapid-fire and record labels, musicians, distribution companies all declared war on, well, teenagers. Remember the Kazaa hysteria, when children were being arrested for downloading copyright material? Slowly but surely we've come to our senses and realized that there is nothing we can do about the mass distribution of free music. The solution was not punishment, the solution was finding a new way to make money in light of this massive change in the music industry. The iTunes music store was born, and many other Mp3 sales web sites and software. But we're still not entirely there, as a tiny percentage of all internet users pay for every piece of music they listen to. There are further solutions that remain to be found.
The point is, the industry has changed, much like the many times the listening format has changed, from records to tapes to cds. As a serious business in that industry, one must adjust rather than fight it.
The same applies to videos on the web. Over the past year, with the huge popularity of YouTube and Google's purchase of it, disagreements regarding the distribution of copyrighted video content have arose en masse. Again, we will eventually have to face the fact that it won't stop. Watching over close to 1 billion people's activities on the internet is a gargantuan task and not really worth the time.
Solutions exist, as recent articles have suggested more people are spending more and more time on the internet and less and less with TV. Teens in particular are spending more time watching videos on the web than they do watching TV. This is the future generation and a market that has hardly been tapped.
The companies out there complaining about free distribution of copyrighted material are mostly motion picture companies and television broadcasters. What needs to change is how these movies and broadcasts are distributed and how they make their money from them. Much like airing a news show on TV, releasing it free on the 'net can have similar, if not greater advertising revenue. Eventually these companies will be forced to adapt as well.
And now books are in the limelight. These are all just growing pains from a rapid digital revolution. There are always those stubborn few that don't like change, but it's inevitable. Success, for any business, will come with adaptation, not a fight.
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