Table Of ContentGoogle Rules
Google Rules
The History and Future of Copyright
Under the Influence of Google
JOANNE ELIZABETH GRAY
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Gray, Joanne Elizabeth, author.
Title: Google rules : the history and future of copyright under the influence of Google /
Joanne Elizabeth Gray.
Description: New York : Oxford University Press, 2020. | Based on author’s thesis (doctoral—
Australian Catholic University, 2018) issued under title: Google rules : an analysis of Google’s
influence on copyright law and practice. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019034239 (print) | LCCN 2019034240 (ebook) | ISBN 9780190072070 (hardback) |
ISBN 9780190072094 (epub) | ISBN 9780190072100 (online)| ISBN 9780190072087 (updf)
Subjects: LCSH: Copyright. | Copyright and electronic data processing. | Google. | Google (Firm)—
Influence. | Authors and publishers—Effect of technological innovations on.
Classification: LCC K1420.5 .G73 2020 (print) | LCC K1420.5 (ebook) | DDC 346.04/82—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019034239
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019034240
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For Victor— this book began when you did.
PREFACE
I believe strongly in the value of a vibrant and diverse creative world. For
most of my career, I have worked closely with artists, people who create
music and art. I see up close the contribution they make to our society—
enriching and enlightening. Copyright has also played a central role in my
professional life. Copyright protects art, music, and other creative expres-
sion and is important for building a career from a creative practice. But
for most of my career, I’ve felt that there’s something amiss with how cop-
yright functions and with how the policy debate typically plays out. Too
much attention is given to established industry players, and the concepts
central to the copyright orthodoxy appear divorced from actual creative
practice and the interests of actual artists.
Several years ago, it occurred to me that Google might represent a
turning point in the history of copyright. Here was a technology giant
arguing for changes to copyright laws to support more public access to
works and creative freedoms. Could Google be a corporate white knight?
Or were Hollywood and Rupert Murdoch correct in thinking Google
is a parasite set to destroy all possibility for commercial success in the
creative industries? Of course, once I looked into it, I quickly realized
both estimations of Google were inaccurate. I discovered that the story
of Google and copyright is thorny and complex, with consequences that
reach far beyond artists, art, and the media and entertainment industries.
The story of Google and copyright is also about the impact of technological
xiv Preface
change, the distribution of power in society, and the shape of contempo-
rary democracy.
In this book, I explore and evaluate Google’s relationship to copy-
right law. I examine Google’s copyright agenda, its legal, commercial,
and political conflicts over copyright, and Google’s approach to copy-
right in practice. The first part of the book shows how the public interest
suffers in a digital copyright policy debate dominated by powerful in-
dustry stakeholders. The second part explores Google’s contributions to
digital copyright politics and the copyright policies that Google enforces
across its own platforms. In the concluding chapters of the book, I iden-
tify the implications of Google’s current position in digital copyright
governance for the public interest and propose pathways for confronting
Google’s accumulation of economic, political, and social power.
Copyright is central to much of what Google does, and, because Google
is a powerful and motivated multinational corporation that is likely to seek
to influence copyright law for the foreseeable future, I hope lawmakers
and other copyright stakeholders, including the public, will benefit from
my analysis and evaluation of Google’s activities in this space. Copyright
laws impact us all— copyright is one of the key levers for regulating the
social and cultural conditions of our time. Accordingly, I have tried to
make this book accessible and engaging to the widest possible audience.
As creators, lawyers, policymakers, educators, entrepreneurs, engineers,
internet users, parents, and children, we are all stakeholders in the digital
copyright policy debate.
A quick note on terminology. In 2015, Google Inc. restructured, and
now Google operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of parent com-
pany Alphabet. Google is Alphabet’s largest subsidiary. Google’s key
internet- related businesses, including Search, YouTube, and Android,
remain within Google. The businesses unrelated to Google’s internet
activities— for example, in the areas of health sciences, drones, and
self- driving cars— operate as separate subsidiaries of Alphabet. Given
Google’s continued dominance within the broader corporate entity, as
well as its continued focus upon activities that relate most directly to
copyright law, in this book, rather than adopting “Alphabet” to describe
Preface xv
the political and economic activities of the restructured entity, I con-
tinue to use “Google.”
In this book, while I talk about the activities and motivations of
Google, I of course understand that a corporation does not think or seek
anything for itself. A corporation is directed by owners and manage-
ment— by real people working collectively and as individuals. Yet when
the decisions and activities of the people working for an organization are
viewed in the aggregate, and in the context of an economic purpose, we
can attribute to a corporation an overarching strategy, principles, and
agenda.1 In Google’s case, key individuals lead a company with a clear
economic purpose, and it is possible to identify an overarching strategy
and a copyright policy agenda underpinned by political and economic
principles.
I was able to establish Google’s vision for copyright, including
Google’s preferred policies, legislation, and reforms, through an ex-
amination of almost forty submissions made by Google to government
agencies in jurisdictions throughout the world as part of law-r eform
public consultations undertaken between 2005 and 2016. To locate these
submissions, I researched every one of the 189 countries in the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) member state database to de-
termine which countries had conducted public consultations on copyright
law amendments or reforms between 2005 and 2016. To obtain a copy of
Google’s submission to a public consultation, I made contact with copy-
right agencies (or other relevant agencies) in each jurisdiction. In many
cases, Google had made its submission publicly available. Collecting and
analyzing these submissions allowed me to get around the well- known
difficulties in obtaining candid on-t he- record interviews with technology
companies. Policy submissions are a reliable source of formal proposals
(and analysis) made directly by Google, and they complemented my col-
lection of other primary sources including case law, policy documents,
and company information regarding Google’s business structure and
practices.
Finally, I think it is important to state that while the parameters of this
book may be narrowly set— upon one company and one area of intellectual
xvi Preface
property law— I see it as a contribution to a broader and multifaceted con-
versation about a new generation of monopolistic companies, born from
the technological developments of the digital age, the social, political, and
economic influence they have acquired in contemporary society, and what
exactly we might be able to do about it.
