The books being made available by Google were all published before 1923. These titles, which, include much of your high school English reading list, are easier to publish because they aren’t protected by copyright.
Amazon still has a big leg-up when it comes to new releases, though Sony-Google’s advantage is that all of these e-books will be free. Sony Reader’s process for downloading books also sounds a bit klunky, compared to Kindle’s over-the-air downloads.
If anything, this news is a sign that Book Search is one product that Google remains committed to in light of the discontinuation of other, non-core products. Other recent improvements to the tool include options for embedding books on your own site, an API, and deals with publishers to bring more content into the tool.
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