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Judge Postpones Hearing on Google Book Settlement

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 28, 2009 - 6:45am.
New York - The judge overseeing the contentious settlement between Google (NASD: GOOG) and the Authors Guild on Friday delayed a planned Oct. 7 hearing indefinitely, as the two sides confer with the Justice Department to alter the deal to allay a range of concerns. "The current settlement agreement raises significant issues, as demonstrated not only by the number of objections, but also by the fact that the objectors include countries, states, nonprofit organizations and prominent authors and law professors," U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin wrote in his ruling.

In addition to the Justice Dept., European nations including France have voiced concerns about the deal, as have several state attorneys general; large Internet firms like Microsoft, Amazon and Yahoo; copyright holders; and consumer privacy advocates.

The Authors Guild itself petitioned the court last week to postpone the hearing.

"We are engaged in focused discussions with Department of Justice regarding specific points it has raised, and are considering potential amendments to the agreement," Google said in a statement.

 

Related Links:
http://www.googlebooksettlement.com/05CV8136_20090924.pdf (PDF)

Published in DMW Daily, September 28, 2009
tags: Law | Lawsuits | Google | Copyright | E-Books | Privacy | Publishing | Books | Authors Guild | Google Book Search |



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