US appeals court backs Google’s book-scanning project

Big win for Google: The court said that the snippets made available by Google could not be construed as a substitute for the works and that it didn't matter whether Google made a profit from its search business using the books.

WASHINGTON: Google’s colossal project to digitise the world’s books does not violate copyright law, a US appeals court ruled, affirming a 2013 decision seen as a landmark for the digital era. 

Google welcomed the decision allowing its vast digitisation programme to move forward, but plaintiffs led by the Authors Guild vowed to take the case to the US Supreme Court.