MatthewHSE - 8:09 pm on Aug 12, 2005 (gmt 0)

The company also is scanning books stored at the New York Public Library and Oxford University, but those two libraries so far are providing Google only with "public domain" works — material no longer protected by copyrights.

That would be one thing. Scanning copyrighted material is quite another.

Google executives have positioned the scanning project as a largely altruistic endeavor that will make it easier for people around the world to read the valuable — and often rare — material stockpiled in libraries.

This is a lame explanation. If it's rare, then 99% of the time it's in the public domain and copyright doesn't apply. If it's not rare (e.g., probably still copyrighted), why bother?