Tech Shout!

Google has started offering full downloads of out-of-copyright books in the PDF format, allowing users to either read a book at their leisure or perhaps use an ebook device. At present a few classics and ambiguous titles are being offered in the public domain.

Google Book Search is a project by the search engine to digitize as many books as possible, thereby making it possible to search for specific references instantly. The company has partnered with the University of California, Harvard, the University of Michigan, Oxford, and the New York Public Library.

“What has been tucked away in large research library collections and available only to a few, can now be discovered and read by people everywhere,” Verba said in a joint statement with Google.

Earlier in 2006, Google had invited publishers to submit their books directly to the project and set prices for access. This move by the search giant was intended to cover viewing only in a web browser, however, while preventing downloads and copying of material.

However it’s not been an absolute bed of roses for Google Book Search since its initiation in 2005. The service has already been the target of at least two lawsuits, one from the Association of American Publishers, and another from the non-profit Author’s Guild. Both are attempting to block Google from copying books, and have accused it of copyright violation.

Still, Google is positive about the initiative “Of course, this is just the beginning. As we digitize more of the world’s books — whether rare, common, popular or obscure — people everywhere will be able to discover them on Google Book Search,” said associate product manager Adam Mathes.

Among those books being offered as a PDF download are classics like, Dante’s “Inferno,” Aesop’s “Fables,” Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” and Ferriar’s The “Bibliomania.” Users can find the downloads by clicking on the “Full view” radio button when searching on books.google.com.

“Please note that we do not enable downloading of any book currently under copyright. Unless we have the publisher’s permission to show more, we display only small snippets of text –- at most, two or three sentences surrounding your search term -– to help you determine if you’ve found what you’re looking for,” remarked Mathes.