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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Google has won a long-running court battle [bbc.com] with the Authors Guild:

The US Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Google in its 11-year legal battle with an authors group. The Court said it would not hear an appeal from the Authors Guild, which claimed Google breached copyright laws by scanning books without permission. The technology giant began the process in 2004, so it could include extracts in a searchable database, and it was sued by the Authors Guild in 2005. The Supreme Court's judgement is the final ruling on the matter.

[...] Google said its database was a "fair use" of protected works, describing it as "a card catalogue for the digital age". The firm could have faced billions of dollars in damages claims from authors if it had lost the case. The Authors Guild said it was "disappointed" [authorsguild.org] that the Supreme Court would not hear its appeal.

EFF [eff.org].

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