Copyright Notice - ReadnQuiz

A Note on Copyright and Book Scanning for Quizzes

Every published book includes boilerplate copyright language warning against reproduction "by any means." It is completely natural to feel hesitant about scanning a book when reading those warnings. However, under U.S. copyright law, those warnings are not legally enforceable in all situations.

Here is why scanning a book to generate a quiz with ReadnQuiz is legally sound and mutually beneficial:

1. It is "Transformative Use"

Federal courts have consistently ruled that scanning a book is a protected Fair Use if the goal is to transform the text into a completely new utility—such as a search index, an accessibility format, or an educational assessment tool.

Legal Precedent: In the landmark case Authors Guild v. Google, Inc. (2015), a federal court ruled that Google’s mass scanning of millions of library books to create a searchable index (Google Books) was a fair use. The court noted that because Google only shows "snippets" of text to the public and uses the full OCR text to power a search engine, the use is transformative and does not replace the market for the original book.

2. No Market Substitution (Piracy)

We do not publish, sell, or distribute the scanned pages of the book.

3. Our "Zero-Read" Guarantee

We do not display or distribute the scanned text. Students cannot read the book online through ReadnQuiz.

  • The scanned pages are processed securely behind the scenes solely to create a quiz.
  • The raw text is never accessible to students or outside parties.
  • It never acts as a substitute for a physical or electronic book.

A Win-Win for Libraries and Publishers

Ultimately, adding a quiz to ReadnQuiz doesn't hurt authors and publishers—it actively supports them.

Librarians and media specialists routinely look at our quiz collection to help make ordering decisions. When a quiz is added to our collection, it shines a spotlight on that title, making it much more likely that kids will read that book and libraries nationwide will buy copies for their own shelves.