The Authors Guild

Amended Settlement Filed in Authors Guild v. Google

November 13, 2009. We've filed the amended settlement in Authors Guild v. Google. The official documents will be available at googlebooksettlement.com at some point over the weekend. In the meantime, here are the big changes:

1. Smaller Class; Representation of Foreign Countries on Registry Board. We've narrowed down the class to authors and publishers of works registered in the U.S. and authors and publishers of works published in the three other countries that have contributed the largest number of English-language works to American libraries: Australia, Canada, and the U.K. Each of these countries will have an author and a publisher seat on the Book Rights Registry board.

2. Independent Fiduciary for Unclaimed Works. An independent fiduciary approved by the court will be solely responsible for decisions regarding unclaimed works.
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Related Articles

• 9/09/09 - Authors Line Up to Support Google Book Settlement
• 9/02/09 - Amazon Accuses Someone Else of Monopolizing Bookselling
• 6/24/09 - Unlocking a Vast Archive of Out-of-Print Books: An Outline of Google Book Settlement Benefits

Happy Amended Settlement Day!

November 13, 2009. We file the amended Google settlement with the court today, but it's not quite out of the oven yet.  While you're waiting, we thought we'd share some of the thoughts of others on the original settlement.

Normally, we wouldn't recommend a piece that in any way compares out-of-print books to sewage, but this piece in Slate is by Tim Wu, a Columbia Law professor and former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.  Mr. Wu specializes in copyright law and telecommunications policy and is best known online as the popularizer of the net neutrality movement. He's also chairman of the board of Free Press, a nonprofit dedicated, among other things, to combating media monopolies.  For those wary of Google, his concluding paragraph is worth reading:

"But if you want to put Google in its place, the book project is the wrong way to do so. It is Google's monopoly on Internet search that is valuable and potentially dangerous, not a quixotic project to provide access to unpopular books. So hold on to that sense of wariness, but understand that in this case, it's misplaced. To punish Google by killing Book Search would be like punishing Andrew Carnegie by blowing up Carnegie Hall."
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Google Settlement Fairness Hearing Adjourned

September 24, 2009. Judge Denny Chin has granted the motion of authors and publishers to adjourn the fairness hearing scheduled for October 7th.  While noting that the current settlement raises "significant issues," Judge Chin says that "the proposed settlement would offer many benefits to society, as recognized by supporters of the settlement as well as DOJ. ... It would appear that if a fair and reasonable settlement can be struck, the public would benefit."

Court Order Adjourning Hearing More...