Authors Guild Appeals Lower Court Decision Backing Google’s Book Digitizing Project
The issue is whether Google’s project violates the copyrights of some of the millions of scanned books, or whether it has a valid “fair use” exception.
The issue is whether Google’s project violates the copyrights of some of the millions of scanned books, or whether it has a valid “fair use” exception.
A three-judge panel for the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals has definitively ruled that Google’s full-text book scanning is “fair use” and thus protected from claims of copyright infringement. So unless The Authors Guild, which originally sued Google in 2005, wants to appeal to the US Supreme Court, Google has won. Fair use is […]
Nearly ten years after it began and eight years after Google was sued over it, Google’s program that scans books in order to make them searchable has been found legal. A judge found fair use, especially in that “Google Books does not supersede or supplant books because it is not a tool to be used to […]
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Google received a procedural setback today in the long running litigation over its book-scanning project. Presiding Judge Dennis Chin ruled that the Authors Guild and a parallel trade organization for photographers could represent their members collectively against Google in the class action. Google had wanted to remove these organizations and deal individually with authors and […]
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As their long-running legal battle continues, Google has asked a federal judge to dismiss lawsuits brought by authors’ and photographers’ groups over its book-scanning service. According to Bloomberg News, Google told judge Denny Chin that The Authors Guild can’t sue on behalf of the authors because the Guild doesn’t own the copyrights to the books […]
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The lawsuit over Google Books is back on track for trial but purposely with enough time to allow the parties involved to keep negotiating a settlement. In a New York City courtroom today, Judge Denny Chin heard from Google, the Authors Guild and the American Association Of Publishers about progress in talks. Bloomberg reports that […]
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Remember the Google Book (Class Action) Settlement? It’s been some time since there’s been any news. After many months of waiting, the court handed down its decision today — a defeat for Google and those who supported the settlement. The Authors Guild brought a class action lawsuit against Google in 2005 for “massive” copyright infringement […]
Google has rolled out its long awaited digital ebooks program, the next step in the company’s ambitious but controversial project to scan and make searchable the estimated 130 million books that exist in print versions. “The next logical iteration for us is to open up a bookstore,” said Scott Dougall, product management director for Google […]
With a final “fairness hearing” scheduled for February 18, the US Department Of Justice has filed briefs (PDF) in opposition to the Google Book Search Amended Settlement Agreement (“ASA”). The DOJ commends the parties for their efforts to reach an amended agreement that addresses some of the problems with the original settlement but concludes that […]
As expected, a revised Google Book Settlement has been filed today — about as late as possible. The agreement narrows the scope to the US, UK, Canada and Australia. It alters how revenue generated by “unclaimed works” will be handled. It formally grants retailers who license out-of-print books covered by the settlement — including Google […]
The clock is ticking: Google and the parties involved in the Book Search lawsuit settlement have one month from today — until November 9 — to revise the settlement and satisfy the recent objections from the US Justice Department and others. That may seem like an ambitious timeframe given the amount of objections the settlement […]
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In the wake of last Friday’s objections to the Google Book lawsuit settlement, Google along with the two other parties that sued it, have asked the judge to delay further hearings on the settlement until an amended one can be put forth. Google, Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers, made this request today […]
As expected, the US Department Of Justice today has filed a list of objections and modifications it would like seen made in the proposed settlement to the Google Book Search lawsuit. It’s not saying that the settlement should go back to square one. In fact, it suggests that “momentum” potentially could be lost to improve […]
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The legal briefs were flying fast and furiously as all the interest groups, supporters and competitors rushed to meet a deadline for third parties to weigh in on the Google Book Search settlement. The NY Times quotes legal scholars who argue that the “quality” and volume of the filings in the case will make it […]
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Germany has joined the growing chorus of people, groups, and even nations that are against the proposed settlement of a lawsuit over Google’s scanning of copyrighted books and making them available online. The Wall Street Journal reports that the German government filed its opposition on Monday. The full filing appears to be available on Justia.com. […]
The settlement that ended the litigation against Google’s book scanning/search project must still be approved by the courts, although tentative approval has already been given. Among other aspects of the settlement, Google is to pay $125 million to fund a “Book Rights Registry” that will help resolve claims by authors and publishers and cover legal […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.
Google has settled the class action litigation entitled The Authors Guild, Inc., et al. v. Google Inc., which alleged that Google Book Search, including the company’s practice of scanning books to distribute them online, violated the copyrights of publishers and authors. Subject to final court approval, the settlement calls for Google to pay $125 million […]