Whip-smart law blogger Frank Pasquale works through his evolving views on digital library projects and search engines, proposing a compelling strategy for wringing some public good from the tangle of lawsuits surrounding Google Book Search. It hinges on a more expansive (though absolutely legally precedented) interpretation of fair use that takes the public interest and not just market factors into account. Recommended reading. (Thanks, Siva!)
Google Book Search has an interesting controversy over fair-use. However, Google Web Search scans websites in a similar fashion and hasn’t had such controversy.
As long as publishers still make money off their books Google Book Search is great for consumers: http://fishtrain.com/2007/11/30/google-book-search-wealth-of-giants/