"By digitizing library holdings, Google would create a modern Library of Alexandria: everyone would have free access to all the books in existence. But it touched off an equal and opposite reaction in the form of closed access, paywalls, and monopolies."
"As soon as it began to digitize libraries, Google became entangled in copyright law, which protects rights to a book for the life of the author plus seventy years-that is, in most cases, for more than a century. A moving wall now keeps all books published since 1927 out of the public domain, but Google has forged ahead, digitizing everything (though without making entire texts available), despite having been sued by rights holders for infringement of copyright."
"By agreeing on a settlement with the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers, Google converted what was originally a free search service involving only snippets from books into a profit-driven commercial library. In order to subscribe to Google Book Search, research libraries, which had made their holdings available..."