The content within the Scripture Testimony Index is excerpted from books, many still under copyright, according to the Fair Use doctrine of copyright law.
(See https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/index.html for more information.)
If you are a copyright holder to a work referenced in this project, and you feel that we have gone outside the bounds of Fair Use, please let us know through our Contact Form, and we will resolve the issue with you.
Directing Readers to Books
The Scripture Testimony Index is a tool designed to help readers find stories related to the teachings of Jesus. Each story is followed by detailed information about the book in which the story is found, along with where to buy it, borrow it, or download it—if it is in the public domain. Our hope is that this tool will introduce a new generation of readers to these amazing books!
No book, whether in the public domain or not, can be downloaded from this website, as it is only an index, and does not contain the book texts.
Authors Guild, Inc. v. Google, Inc.
Our idea for scanning books to use for data science was inspired by Google Books, which has been scanning books for decades. Their purpose is for general searching, while our purpose is more focused. In 2013 Google was challenged in court by the Author’s Guild. However, the court found that Google’s practices were Fair Use, especially since the search tool led people to find books they didn’t previously know about. The Author’s Guild appealed in 2015, but the lower court’s decision was upheld. The US Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal in 2016, and instead upheld Google’s Fair Use argument.
The walkingtogether.life website only provides edited story excerpts, much like one might see in a blog article. Google is much more generous. For example, try searching books.google.com for “Heavenly Man,” and you will find huge portions of the book, and this has been deemed Fair Use by the courts.
Spirit of the Law
While we have confidence that we are within the bounds of the law for our story excerpts, we desire to honor authors and publishers and their hard work. Again, if you feel that one of our story excerpts from your copyrighted work is not Fair Use, please let us know!