In terms of raw bytes it's probably more data than every book You're referring to the aggregate, so far as I know copyright law works on specific instances. Le

In terms of raw bytes it's probably more data than every book You're referring to the aggregate, so far as I know copyright law works on specific instances. Let's say the Kindle had a button that allowed you to isolate a couple of sentences and broadcast them to your friends on Facebook, or wherever. The small portion of the text being shared would fall under fair usage and not be a copyright infringement violation, even though the aggregate of all Kindle users might be large. What is the important difference here? I think the biggest difference between the two sides debating this issue is that one side thinks the amount of effort Google put into creating search results is a relevant concern, while my side thinks that once those results are shared with users Google's legal/moral claims to any ownership of that data evaporate. The streetview point highlights the problem. If Google and I both take pictures of the Church of Mxyzptlk at 14th and Main, we both own copyright to our respective pictures. The fact that I created my picture after "piggybacking" off of a Google search for Mxyzptlk is irrelevant to copyright. So far as know (IANAL) the combination of a link with search terms is a utilitarian set of data rather than a creative expression and hence not copyrightable.