The Supreme Court won’t hear an appeal on Google Books case

Today, the Supreme Court denied a request from the Authors Guild to review a lower court’s decision that Google Books doesn’t infringe on authors’ copyright protections, The Hill reports. In a ruling last October, a Second Circuit Court of Appeals determined that Google’s practice of posting searchable snippets of books online was within the limits of fair use. The case against Google Books has been ongoing for 11 years, and today’s Supreme Court decision could finally mark an end.

Authors, led by the Authors Guild, argued that Google infringed on their copyright protections by scanning their work and making the full text available through search. A judge ruled in 2013 that Google Books’ process changed the texts so thoroughly that it could be considered “transformative,” thereby making it clear for fair use protections. Lower courts also said the service didn’t discourage readers from purchasing the books and expanded public knowledge.