Google vs Microsoft

Microsoft has usually beaten its chosen opponents. Google does not look like such a straightforward proposition. In this case most of my sympathies would lie with the upstart, however Microsoft has chosen its ground carefully. Microsoft will have plenty of allies in questioning Google's attitude towards copyrights. Google has fights here with the Association of American Publishers, with a group of Belgian newspaper publishers, with many TV companies over YouTube, etc. Too many fights.

So Tom Rubin, Microsoft's Associate General Counsel for Copyright has chosen a good moment to publish an opinion piece in the Financial Times, just as he appears at the AAP annual conference.

Google will not want to be seen as the enemy of all copyright holders. So it is lucky for them that Springer have just announced that all of its 29,000 titles are available for searching through Google Book Search. Google needs to start making peace with the publishers and put through a few more deals like the Springer coup. Putting 29,000 books online is a tall order. Note that the announcement says that they are all up, not that they are all going to be there one day. Well done Springer and Google. I dont know why GBS thinks it has 46,000.