[Blindtlk] Google Books settlement Delayed Indefinitely

[Corey Cook]

How does this afect the blind?

Corey
Check out my blog.
http://www.blindrants.blogspot.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Andrews" <dandrews at visi.com>
To: <dtb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 3:38 AM
Subject: [Blindtlk] Google Books settlement Delayed Indefinitely


>
>
>
> September 24, 2009, 6:34 pm
>
> Google Books Settlement Delayed Indefinitely
>
> By
>
> Miguel Helft
>
> As currently written, the controversial settlement between
>
> Google
>
> and groups representing publishers and authors is officially dead. On
> Thursday, a federal judge gave the parties time to negotiate a new deal 
> that
> would
>
> address some of the many objections filed by various groups.
>
> Judge Denny Chin of the United States District Court for the Southern
> District of New York granted a motion to delay an Oct. 7 hearing on the
> settlement,
>
> which would pave the way for Google to create an immense digital library 
> and
> bookstore. The motion
>
> was filed earlier this week
>
> by the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers, the
> plaintiffs in the case, and was unopposed by Google, the defendant.
>
> Judge Chin said that it made no sense to hold a hearing on the current
> settlement since the parties have indicated that they are negotiating
> significant
>
> changes to it.
>
> In
>
> his order
>
> , Judge Chin indicated that he took seriously the long list of objections
> that various parties have raised about the agreement.
>
> "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," Judge Chin wrote. "Clearly, fair concerns have been
> raised."
>
> But Judge Chin also echoed comments made by the Justice Department last 
> week
> that the settlement, if properly revised, could offer great benefits, most
>
> notably, by providing broad access to millions of out-of-print books that
> are largely locked up in a small group of university libraries.
>
> "The settlement would offer many benefits to society, as recognized by
> supporters of the settlement as well as D.O.J.," he wrote, referring to 
> the
>
> Department of Justice
>
> , which
>
> filed its own brief in the case
>
> last week. "It would appear that if a fair and reasonable settlement can 
> be
> struck, the public would benefit."
>
> The first clear signs that the settlement in its current form would be
> derailed came late Friday, when the Justice Department raised a number of
> legal and
>
> antitrust objections to it. In its brief, the department also said that 
> the
> parties
>
> appeared willing to renegotiate many aspects of the agreement
>
> to overcome its opposition
>
> The decision by the plaintiffs to ask for more time represents a stark
> reversal from earlier this year. In April, a group of authors and the 
> heirs
> of others,
>
> including representatives of the estate of John Steinbeck, first asked the
> court to delay the fairness hearing and deadline for filing objections. 
> The
>
> authors asked for a four-month delay, and the parties, eager to have the
> agreement approved quickly, reluctantly recommended a two-month delay. 
> Judge
> Chin
>
> sided with the authors.
>
> Observers say the delay provided the time necessary for the many critics 
> of
> the deal, including the Justice Department, to come forward. The court
> received
>
> more than 400 filings, the majority of them raising issues about various
> parts of the agreement.
>
> Instead of the scheduled fairness hearing, Judge Chin asked the parties to
> convene in court on Oct. 7 for a status conference. The purpose of the
> conference
>
> is to "determine how to proceed with the case as expeditiously as 
> possible,
> as this case has now been pending for more than four years," he wrote.
>
> The Authors Guild and the Association of American sued Google in 2005 for
> copyright infringement over the company's plan to scan books from major
> libraries
>
> and make them available online. The parties announced the settlement, 
> which
> took two years to negotiate, in October.
>
> The settlement also appears to be facing another
>
> challenge in a French court.
>
>
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