Second Circuit Holds That Google's Searchable, Digital Google Books And Library Project Is Fair Use

On October 16, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that Google's unauthorized digitizing and selective provision of copyrighted works through its Google Books and Library Project is noninfringing fair use, despite the commercial purpose of Google's service. The Authors Guild et al. v. Google, Inc., Case No. 13-4829 (2d Cir. Oct. 16, 2015).

The decision comes after more than 10 years of litigation with authors representing a putative class. The court held that Google's creation of search functionality and display of snippets of those works were sufficiently transformative to provide a valuable public benefit without substituting for the authors' works in the marketplace.