(4 June 2007 5:45 pm)

MUMBAI: Microsoft has added copyrighted books to its online library, Windows Live Search, saying it has permission to offer the works to searchers on the Internet.

It has made deals with authors and publishing houses to include their works in the Live Search Books index. Live Search Books (in beta) carries out a full-text search and generates a results list showing title, author, year of publication and a snippet containing the search terms.

Microsoft thus has leapfrogged over the controversy triggered by Google's plan to offer the world's written works online.

In a posting on the Washington-based website, Live Search program manager Betsy Aoki said, "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."

Publishers like Cambridge University Press, McGraw-Hill Companies, Rodale and Simon and Schuster are listed on the library adding their books to Microsoft's virtual shelves.

Publishers get to decide what percentage of a copyrighted book Microsoft can show to users. If a user decides to buy a book, Microsoft will offer links to external sites selling it, such as online retailers like Amazon.com Inc. or publisher Web stores.

Google launched its book project in 2004 aiming to scan all literary works and post them online. It has stored on its searchable database classic works in the public domain, along with copyrighted books submitted with or without the publishers' permission.

After opposition from publishing houses and authors, Google modified its online library to offer only summaries of copyrighted works along with information regarding where to buy or borrow the books.