Authors Guild and the AAP, with no opposition from Google, have asked Judge Denny Chin to postpone the hearing scheduled for October 7 “so that the parties can (a) amend the Settlement Agreement and (b) seek approval of an amended settlement agreement.” They have asked the Judge for a “status conference” on November 6 instead, to “discuss the parties’ progress.” They confirm what was indicated in the Justice Department’s filing last Friday, saying “it is because the parties wish to work with the DOJ to the fullest extent possible…in negotiations in an effort to address and resolve the concerns expressed” […]
eNews
Justice Raises Google Settlement Questions, But Sees Path to Solutions
Last Friday night, the Department of Justice filed a brief with Judge Chin in the Google Books case that provided both critics and proponents of the settlement with reasons to be happy. Justice asked the court to “reject the proposed settlement in its current form and encourage the parties to continue negotiations to modify it so as to comply with Rule 23 and the copyright and antitrust laws.” At the same time, the department noted repeatedly its understanding, as reported recently, that the parties “are continuing to consider possible modifications to address the many concerns raised by various commenters and […]
eNews: Scribd Sued, BN.com Bulletins, Hachette's Free Audio Downloads
With echoes of at least one of the unresolved fair-use issues in the Google suit, author Elaine Scott sued Scribd.com last week in a Houston Federal District Court, represented by Camara & Sibley, seeking class action status on behalf of “every author who owns a valid registered copyright in a work infringed by Scribd.” The filing accuses the company of believing that “commercial copyright infringement is not illegal, unless and until the injured party discovers and complains of the infringing activity, and (the) infringer fails to respond to such complaints.” They accuse Scribd of having “broken barriers to copyright infringement […]
Justice Expected to File Concerns Over Google Settlement
The newest leak comes in a WSJ posted Thursday, which says “the filing is likely to discuss the department’s concern that parts of the agreement may hurt the interests of other parties, such as Google’s potential competitors in the nascent digital-book market.” They say the Department of Justice has concerns that the BRR could lead to “prohibitively high prices.” The Journal confirms the earlier Bloomberg story that the settlement parties have been talking to the DOJ to see “whether the parties could revise the agreement to make a filing unnecessary” and asserts that Justice “believes some of its concerns can […]
Sources Say Google and Plaintiffs Are Talking to Justice About Settlement Modifications
Citing two anonymous sources, Bloomberg reported last night that the parties are in discussions with the Justice Department in advance of tomorrow’s deadline for the DOJ to file their views on the Google Books Settlement case with Judge Denny Chin. “The discussions are aimed at modifying the settlement in ways that ease Justice Department concerns that the deal would let Google discourage other companies from competing for access to the books online, said one of the people.” Meanwhile, Google ceo Eric Schmidt tries a little pro-active public relations. In an interview with Search Engine Land he mostly addresses the specious […]
Rand eBooks
NAL is issuing ebook versions of Ayn Rand’s famous Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead today, along with electronic editions of eighteen other Rand works. The publisher says they shipped over 300,000 copies of Atlas Shrugged in the first half of this year, a 25 percent increase over total shipments in 2008. Also, two corrections from Friday’s e-news: Google Book Search does already work with Barnes & Noble, having partnered recently to offer public domain ebooks for free on BN’s new platform, and Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games is available in ebook form.