I like your example quite a lot. I feel like if Google where providing a service that only indexed books, but did not provide any content, the authors guild would not have a leg to stand on.<p>In this altered Google Books service, let&#x27;s say I search for the following phrase:<p><pre><code>    Then they were looking at the familiar environs of the ISS Flight Control Room,
    which was at Johnson Space Center in Houston. The director of mission
    operations was sitting in front of the camera stroking his iPad. He didn&#x27;t seem
    to be aware that the camera was on.
</code></pre>
This &quot;alternate universe Google Books&quot; would present you with only the following information:<p><pre><code>    Book: Seveneves
    Author: Neil Stephenson
    Quote is found on page: XXXX
    [ CLICK HERE TO BUY THIS BOOK! ]

</code></pre>
The functionality of being a &quot;Book search engine&quot; would remain, without reproducing any copyrighted material. I imagine that this alternate version of Google Books would not incur any ire from the Authors Guild, or if they did take issue, Google&#x27;s use of their books would be firmly upheld as fair use.<p>As it stands now, Google Books shows you some of each book you search for, and I suspect that&#x27;s what the Authors Guild cares about.