latimes.com:

In an effort to quell its critics, Google Inc. on Thursday said it would open up its vast digital books archive to rival retailers who can access the books and sell them online.

The announcement, made during a congressional hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on Google’s book-scanning project, involves digital copies of millions of so-called orphan books, works that are still under copyright but whose rights holders can’t be tracked down.

Since 2004, the Mountain View, Calif., technology company has scanned more than 10 million books provided by publishers and libraries, and allowed people to search the texts within those books. In 2006, the Authors Guild and the Assn. of American Publishers sued Google, alleging copyright infringement.

More here

Sounds like a good deal to me. Do you prefer digital books to the real thing?