Association of American Publishers sues Google for copyright infringement

Just weeks after a leading authors' organization sued Google for copyright infringement, the Association of American Publishers has also filed suit against the search engine giant's plans to scan and index books for the Internet. Under the Google Print Library Project, millions of copyrighted books from three major university libraries - Harvard, Stanford and Michigan - will be indexed on the Internet unless the copyright holder notifies the company by Nov. 1 about which volumes should be excluded.

Google has called the project an invaluable chance for books to receive increased exposure, the AP reports.

But in papers filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the publishers association sought a permanent injunction and cited the "continuing, irreparable and imminent harm publishers are suffering ... due to Google's willful (copyright) infringement to further its own commercial purposes."

The suit was filed on behalf of five publishers: McGraw-Hill, Pearson Education, Penguin Group USA, Simon & Schuster and John Wiley & Sons. The suit seeks recovery of legal costs, but no additional damages. A.M.