A Google-scanned masterpiece
becomes Google property

In their competitive effort to digitize the world's books, Google and Microsoft have closed big deals with major libraries, including the New York Public Library and university libraries, Harvard and Oxford. But opposition is brewing in Boston.

The Boston Public Library and the Smithsonian Institution think going Google is a mistake, given its commercial aims and the fact that it's a private entity.

Many Boston libraries are opting for the Open Content Alliance, "a nonprofit effort aimed at making their materials broadly available," reports the New York Times.

Though the Alliance bills those who jump onboard up to $30 per scanned book, the results won't be limited like Google or Microsoft, which demands that libraries block all other search companies aside from their own.