"Stung by a publishing industry backlash, Google has halted its efforts to scan copyright books from some of the nation's largest university libraries so the material can be indexed in its leading internet search engine. The company announced the suspension, effective until November, in a notice posted on its website just before midnight Thursday by Adam Smith, the manager of its ambitious program to convert millions of books into a digital format," reports AP.
According to the story, Google now wants publishers to "opt out" by letting the company know which books it doesn't want scanned. That doesn't satisfy the Association of American Publishers:
"Google's announcement does nothing to relieve the publishing industry's concerns," Patricia Schroeder, the trade group's president, said in a statement Friday. "Google's procedure shifts the responsibility for preventing infringement to the copyright owner rather than the user, turning every principle of copyright law on its ear."
