This was written by one of Brin's staff (probably), and I have to wonder why a semi-reputable institution like the nytimes would publish a public relations piece like this as an op-ed.
Anyway, if google released all of these books in the wild, you could bet your ass that they would sue-to-death anyone who crawled and re-published them.
It's not at all unusual for newspapers to publish op-eds from the people involved in the big stories of the day. This is especially true for political candidates.
Anyway, if google released all of these books in the wild, you could bet your ass that they would sue-to-death anyone who crawled and re-published them.