WebProNews

Microsoft has added in-copyright book content to its Live Book Search service, which will start showing up in response to relevant search queries.

The book search controversy that has riled the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers against Google has been largely absent from the efforts by Microsoft to index book content.

Microsoft's work at being a kinder, gentler alternative for publishers who are affronted by Google's fair use stance has paid off for Live Search Books. They just announced the availability of in-copyright content for searchers using that service.

"Today’s release includes books from a wide range of publishers," Cliff Guren, Director of Publisher Evangelism, Live Search Selection Team, wrote on the Live Search blog.

"We have paid particular attention to ensuring that we are only including books in our index that our publishing partners have given us permission to include, so our customers and partners can feel secure in our stance on copyright protection."

It's a sharp contrast to Google's methods. Google has long claimed its practice of scanning books and presenting only short snippets of their content in response to searches enjoys the protection of fair use doctrines. Publishers have disagreed with this stance.