Google Books wins lawsuit as federal judge invokes fair use | The Verge

"Google has won a long-running lawsuit over its Google Books program, as a federal judge today ruled that the project falls under fair use protections. The plaintiffs, led by the Authors Guild, alleged the program had infringed on the books copyright protections by scanning them and rendering the full text available for search. The court took as a given that Google had scanned copyright-protected books without permission. 'The sole issue now before the Court is whether Google's use of the copyrighted works is 'fair use' under the copyright laws,' the decision reads. 'For the reasons set forth below, I conclude that it is' ..."