We mentioned Google Print in Episode 3 of our weekly podcast. Google is in trouble over their desire to index books for the masses to be able to search. The publishing world is in an uproar.

So why, oh why is Microsoft declaring their intentions to do the same thing okay?

Well, there are a couple of differences in the proposed model Microsoft has. For one, they are promising only to offer works in the public domain, at least initially. After that, “MSN will then work to extend its offering to other types of offline content. The digitized content will primarily be print material that has not been copyrighted, and Microsoft will clearly respect all copyrights and work with each partner providing the information to work out mutually agreeable protections for copyrights.”

The other difference is the length they are going to integrate not just print, but other forms of media into their massive index, and tie all that in to other offerings by MSN. While I think that Microsoft is once again playing Johnny-Come-Lately to the party and merely copying someone else’s innovation, at least they are being legally savvy about it.

Let’s face it, Google is not the tiny dotcom it once was. They don’t get to sit around loft offices throwing nerf darts while the business world looks on and says, “aww, how cute.” Having posted earnings of $381.2 million (yes, that’s profit) for the fiscal quarter ending in September, they have to start acting like the big players they are and realize that money is like blood in the water.

Do I think Microsoft will go unscathed in this creation? No. But they seem to be learning from Google’s apparent mistakes, so we’ll see.