Google vs. Copyright

This is a must read and I am sure not the last we will hear about copyright. David Vise of the Washington Post did an article about Google. Here is some notable excerpts:

For years, Larry Page dreamed of tearing down the walls of libraries, and eliminating the barriers of geography, by making millions of books searchable by anybody in the world with an Internet connection. After Google began scanning thousands of library books to make them searchable online, book publishers and authors cried foul, filing lawsuits claiming copyright infringement...Google fired back, saying copyright laws were meant to serve the public interest and didn't apply in the digital realm of search.

I see no problem with authors who give permission to have their works be scanned that this would be an issue because after all, it does make searching easier and quicker. It wouls seem that the authors and publishers would benefit too As long as the works are cited properly, I see no problem. Like the Turn It In database, there does need to be some type of compensation to contribute to its database. I see the same thing here with Google. Perhaps, fees could be charged for using the database and royalities made out; this is already occuring with such databases such as Lexis-Nexus.

PS. It is hard to believe that Google is 7 years old - it seems it has been with us forever. It is also hard to believe the work environment of Google which is described in the article. I can think of several teachers wanting to turn in their resignations to work for Google just for the perks that the employees get; however, I could past on "touch-pad-controlled toilet seats with six levels of heat" but I would just love to have the massage chairs like the Googlers have when I am grading papers :)