Book digitisation to be welcomed but nobody should have a monopoly

Posted by Bronwen Maher on November 26, 2009 at 02:57 PM

Labour MEP Nessa Childers today, has welcomed Google's plans to create an online library, but has cautioned against the company becoming a monopoly power in the area.

Speaking in the European Parliament in Strasbourg Nessa Childers said: "We must cherish public access to our shared European culture and heritage.

"I am sure Google have no ill intentions. Google has an excellent employment record in Ireland and global reputation as a real leader in cutting-edge Internet technology.

“The digitisation of books, such as the Google Books project, has the potential to unlock huge volumes of the world’s collective knowledge and cultural heritage, and we should support efforts to make books searchable, readable, and downloadable.

"However the question we must as Europeans ask is: Should that vast array of knowledge and culture be monopolised by one private American company? What guarantee would we have that they would not use monopoly power to price these books above the price range of ordinary citizens? Public access to such resources is of paramount importance, and as a matter of principle we as European legislators must consider future potential problems.

“I would call on the European Parliament to support a Europe-wide digital library, such as ‘Europeana’ that is in fact, already in place.

"Europeana makes available online nearly 5 million items, including not only books but also paintings, maps, photographs, newspapers, film clips and audio. Its mission is to offer the widest possible public access to cultural collections from across Europe. However I regret that only France has contributed seriously so far and that others, including Ireland, have contributed little.

“I would point to Ireland’s rich and impressive literary history as a motive to become a leader in an initiative to create a Europe-wide digital library, and I believe that the Irish government should participate more fully in the Europeana project.

“The clear message to all European cultural institutions must be to digitise and to digitise now!"

Permanent link | Comments (0) |