Abstract

The idea of the Library of Alexandria has powerfully expanded
over the centuries, embodying the dream of universal wisdom and
knowledge centralized in one single place. Digitization projects, such
as the Google books project, are reviving the hope that this dream
may come true. Moreover, the ubiquity of the networked environment
promises to open access to this über-library to everybody with an
Internet connection. Today the entire collection of human knowledge
may be only one click away.

Whether the dream of the Library of Alexandria will be achieved
by the Google books project is highly debated. Recently, a court
decision concluded that perhaps that dream is not within Google’s
reach at the moment.

In this paper, I will review the Google books project as both an
opportunity to discuss the orphan works problem and to examine the
copyright strictures impinging on digitization projects. In looking at
the Google books litigation, I will investigate the sustainability of
Google’s fair use defense before delving into the description of the
Google books settlement. I will then discuss the recent opinion from
the Southern District of New York rejecting the settlement in its
present form. I will argue that the Google books settlement is an
additional move towards propertization and privatization of culture,
although the settlement furthers the public interest as well. In
warning against this privatization, I will argue that we need a global
effort towards the creation of a World Digital Public Library.