Who’s book is it anyway? (Image: Andrzej Krauze)

NEXT week details of a plan that could shape the future of books and publishing in the digital age will be spelled out in a New York courtroom. The plan is complex but, in a nutshell, search engine giant Google intends to scan and make available perhaps a million or more books that are out of print but still in copyright.

Google has the support of the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers, but it faces formidable opposition. Some 400 legal objections have been filed, and the US Department …