One would think that professional writers would understand copyright law. An orphaned work is one that is still under copyright but the copyright owner is unknown. It is not the same as a document in the public domain.

The problem comes from the fact that the term of copyright has been extended so long (life of author + 75 years, or 90 years for corporate works) that the rights may belong to the author's great-grandchildren who don't even realize they have the right to publish Granny's poems.

So yes, Google now owns by default the copyright on every copy protected work unless one can prove to Google who actually owns the right. And of course, Google also has the right to publish all works in the public domain.

For a company whose motto is "Do no evil" they don't seem to have any compunction against theft.