Tech Shout!

Microsoft Corp. is all set to launch an attack on its rival Google Inc., as the software giant claims that the Web search giant has systematically violated copyright issues. Basically, Microsoft has aimed at Google’s book-scanning project, saying the search engine giant has violated copyrights.

Microsoft Associate General Counsel, Thomas Rubin has even argued in prepared remarks that will be delivered to the Association of American Publishers that Google’s move into the new media market has come at the cost of publishers of books, videos and software. “Companies that create no content of their own, and make money solely on the backs of other people’s content, are raking in billions through advertising revenue,” wrote Thomas C. Rubin, in his planned speech.

Both Google and Microsoft have been scanning libraries’ worth of books, which are the available as searchable media on the Internet. But both the companies have taken different approaches. Microsoft has been scanning works that are no longer covered by copyright law. Where as Google has not been excluding copyrighted works from its scanning project, and has said that the snippets of books it displays on the Web should be considered “fair use,” a principal that allows limited copying of protected works for certain purposes.

The Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild, a writers’ trade group, is suing Google over its book-scanning plans. To support its defense, Google in January subpoenaed information related to book scanning from Microsoft, Yahoo Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and other companies.

“But Google’s track record of protecting copyrights in other parts of its business is weak at best,” wrote Rubin. “Anyone who visits YouTube, which Google purchased last year, will immediately recognize that it follows a similar cavalier approach to copyright.”

According to a copy of the speech, the lawyer for the Redmond, Wash.-based software maker also planned to touch on ways to reduce what it costs to negotiate with copyright owners and protect the companies that display “orphan works” whose copyright holder cannot be found.

Google responded to Rubin’s remarks this Monday, saying the company complies with international copyright laws when it helps users find information from thousands of content providers of every size.

“The result has been more exposure and in many cases more revenue for authors, publishers and producers of content,” said David C. Drummond, senior vice president of corporate development and Google’s chief legal officer.