Its plans to digitize some of the world's largest library collections is still controversial among publishers and others, but that hasn't deterred Google from inviting some of those very publishers in the U.S. and U.K. to sell online access to their copyrighted texts through Google Book Search (formerly Google Print), reports CNET. Google Book Search users thus far have been able to view only free bits of copyrighted texts, but not an entire work.

With the new program, a "book will only be available to the user once they've signed in with their personal account, and will only be available through their browser. Users will not be able to save a copy on their computer nor copy pages from the book," according to an FAQ on the Google site.

Google says program is the first of several to help book publishers earn revenue. Price-setting is up to the publisher. The model is similar to the one announced in the fall by Amazon and Random House.

Previous coverage:

- Google Print Renamed Google Book Search
- Google Print Offers up First Set of Scanned Books
- Amazon, Random House, Microsoft Announce Digital Book Initiatives
- Google Print Offers up First Set of Scanned Books
- Microsoft Joins Yahoo in Effort to Digitize Books
- Now Publishers' Turn to Sue Google over Project
- Eight Google Print Sites Open in Europe
- The Authors Guild Sues Google over Library Project
- Google Expands Book Search; Faces More Publisher Backlash
- Google Puts Brakes on Book Scanning
- Another Group Asks Google to Stop Digitizing Books
- Google Library Project Prompts Privacy Concerns
- Germans Ally with French to Counter Google Print Hegemony
- Google Enhances Book Search
- Scholarly Publishers Press Google on Digital Library Copyrights
- Google to Digitize, Offer Up, Great Libraries