Google has been requesting other companies, such as Yahoo, Amazon.com and Microsoft, disclose details of their ebook projects because Google wants to provide online access to millions of library books. Google claims that it is necessary to obtain details about similar projects from rivals in order to complete its own project. Last month, Amazon.com rejected Google's prying attempts and called Google's request a brazen attempt to pry into its trade secrets. Yahoo sided with Amazon.com at the end of this month, refusing to disclose its details to Google and adding that Google will need a court order before Yahoo discloses any information. "The subpoena is seeking information that we don't think is relevant to Google," Yahoo associate general counsel Reggie Davis said. "Frankly, we're concerned that Google may be seeking competitive advantage by seeking the ideas, documents and other things we discussed internally when making a decision on how we were going to approach the issue (library books) online." These refusals come at a beginning of Google's copyright infringement suit.
Google has demanded information from rival companies for its Book Search Library Project, which involves scanning library books, including some copyrighted books, a topic that has angered those in the literature field. A case began in the New York federal courts last year when a group of publishers and the Authors Guild sued Google with claims that Google did not get proper approval to make copies of books available to anyone with an Internet connection. While preparing evidence for its case, Google has subpoenaed Amazon.com, Yahoo and Microsoft and several other companies. Yahoo and Microsoft are part of a collective group of businesses and libraries working together in order to create a digital database of books. Amazon.com has scanned a large number of books so consumers can read excerpts from books that they may want to buy.
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