Google Books' initial promise of a universal digital library has largely failed for human readers due to copyright restrictions, leaving most digitized books in an inaccessible "snippet" state. While the infrastructure for access exists, copyright law and the doctrine of "fair use" have hindered widespread availability. The author suggests that instead of altering copyright law, new licensing models could unlock these digital archives, enabling a true universal library for readers, similar to how AI models currently access the content. AI
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RANK_REASON This is an opinion piece discussing the historical and current state of digital book access and copyright law, with implications for AI.