Digital publishing: Google's big book case | The Economist - 0 views
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Kay Cunningham on 05 Sep 09'Google has a big economic incentive to ensure that its online library is widely available: it makes most of its money from search advertising, so the more people that use its services, including the online book archive, the better. It also has a legal incentive to watch its step. The agreement stipulates that institutional subscription prices must be low enough to ensure that the public has "broad access" to digital books, while at the same time earning market rates for copyright owners. So if lots of libraries refuse to sign up for Google's service because it is too costly, the company could be slapped with a lawsuit.'