Google, one of the top most search engines with numerous ongoing projects, has decided to put a break on Google Print, a project designed to manually scan books and make them available online for readers worldwide. The project is being put on hold due to copyright concerns from select organizations and critics.

Google said it would stop scanning books for three months and invites publishers and authors to contact the company with a request of exclusion from its online service. "Any and all copyright holders ... can tell us which books they'd prefer that we not scan if we find them in a library," said Adam Smith, Program Manager, Google Print in a statement on the company’s corporate website.

Despite the slight pause, Google said it’s continuing to work with publishers, authors and libraries to begin scanning a plethora of books after the three-month pause period. Thus far, Google has Oxford University, Harvard University, the New York Public Library, Stanford University and the University of Michigan working with the company in its endeavor to provide mass information to readers everywhere.

The web company said it’s willing to offer incentives to authors and publishers by offering advertising and links to retailers for readers who may be interested in purchasing a print copy. The company further added that nearly all-major U.S. and U.K. publishers are participating in the program, at least to a certain extent.

Critics of the program said that Google is putting the weight of copyright protection on the copyright holders instead of the violators. Google tried to relieve the concern and stated, "What we are doing here is legal under the principles of fair use (Adam Smith)."

Patricia Schroeder, President and Chief Executive, Association of American Publishers, is one of the widely recognized Google Print critics. She confirmed that her organization and Google has not reached an agreement thus far.

Google added that it would continue to work with publishers and authors to ease their concerns about the program and strike a balance between publishers and readers.