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Google takes another step towards its world digital library project

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By Noel Young, Correspondent

October 4, 2012 | 2 min read

Google has reached a settlement with major publishers to allow the search giant to digitise books and journals, part of its dream, known as the Google Library Project. The idea is to digitise every book and make all books readable and searchable online.

Google: Library is one step neare

But there is another big hurdle to cross, said the New York Times; litigation between Google and authors is still going on .

Thursday’s agreement, after seven years of litigation, is between Google and the Association of American Publishers. Publishers involved are McGraw-Hill , Pearson Education, the Penguin Group, John Wiley & Sons and Simon & Schuster.

Under the agreement, the publishers can choose whether to allow Google to digitise their out-of-print books that are still copyright.

Google will allow people to read 20 percent of the digitised books online and buy the entire books from the Google Play store. The financial terms of the deal have not been revealed.

If Google and the Authors Guild can now reach a deal (the case is sill in court) that agreement will determine whether Google can move forward with its huge digitising plan.

James Grimmelmann, a professor at New York Law School said yesterday's deal " means very little. Google has been offering publishers the opportunity to sell books online for years,” he said.

He described the Authors Guild action , on the other hand, as “the lawsuit with high stakes” .

The settlement with the publishers, could give Google some help in its litigation with the authors, Grimmelmann said.

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