On October 28, popular Internet search engine Google, the Authors Guild, and the Association of American Publishers reached a settlement to a two-year-old class action suit against the search engine. 

 Google has been working with several prestigious university libraries such as Stanford University and the Universities of California, Wisconsin, and Michigan in order to digitize many of their books. The project originated in 2004, and already allows full access to more than a million books.

The lawsuit against Google was filed in 2005 when worries about copyright infringement and intellectual property rights arose. The settlement, while still subject to court approval, will give readers access to millions of books while simultaneously protecting the financial and legal interests of writers and publishers.

  However, according to Google co-founder and president of technology Sergey Brin, “While this agreement is a real win-win for all of us, the real victors are all the readers.”

 The digitization project, known as Google Book Search, will allow unlimited access to out-of-print books, previews of copyrighted works that offer purchasing options for viewers, unlimited access to all books through U.S. public libraries, and unlimited access to colleges and universities with institutional subscriptions. Google Book Search will greatly increase the amount of information accessible to readers.

 People who are blind or visually impaired will greatly benefit from Google Book Search. According to the National Federation of the Blind, “The agreement between Google and authors and publishers will revolutionize access to books for blind Americans. Blind people will be able to search for books through the Google Books interface and purchase, borrow, or read at a public library any of the books that are available to the general public in a format that is compatible with text enlargement software, text-to-speech screen access software, and refreshable Braille devices.”
 

For more information about the settlement and Google Book Search, visit http://www.nfb.org/nfb/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=378 and http://books.google.com/googlebooks/agreement/#2.