Yahoo-Backed Alliance to Open Web Library
SAN FRANCISCO — Internet powerhouse Yahoo Inc. is setting out to build a vast online library of copyrighted books that pleases publishers _ something rival Google Inc. hasn't been able to achieve. — The Open Content Alliance …
Context & Ripple Effects
Yahoo is backing the Open Content Alliance as a publisher-friendly alternative to Google’s effort to assemble a searchable book library. The distinguishing issue is not digitization alone, but whether copyrighted works can be included on terms publishers accept.
First-order effects
- The Open Content Alliance gains Yahoo’s backing for its planned online library, giving publishers another prospective channel for making copyrighted books available online.
- Google faces a direct competitive benchmark: an alliance organized around publisher acceptance rather than an approach publishers have not accepted.
Second-order effects
- Publishers gain leverage in negotiations over digitization and access terms because Google is no longer the only named large-scale route to an online book library.
- Yahoo and Google must compete not only for searchable material but for the rights-holder relationships needed to make copyrighted collections usable.
Third-order effects
- If publisher-backed alliances become the workable path to digitization, rights clearance and licensing terms—not scanning capacity alone—will determine who can build durable digital-library services.
The trend: Digital-library competition is shifting toward alliances that secure publisher participation alongside search and distribution infrastructure.