An extended oral arguments hearing Monday morning at the 2nd Circuit Court of appeals did not immediately make clear how the three-judge panel would rule on Apple’s appeal of 2013’s ebook antitrust trial, but it did show the court would not spare any side thorough questioning — often to entertaining effect. Ted Boutrous, arguing for Apple, spent much of his allotted 20 minutes comparing his client’s “extraordinary case on antitrust law” to that of Leegin, saying the precedent set by the Supreme Court in that case would be ignored if Judge Denise Cote’s 2013 ruling finding Apple guilty is allowed to stand. […]
Legal
First Report: Government Goes Long In Apple Appeals Court Argument
The scheduled one-hour Appeals Court hearing on Apple’s appeal of Judge Denise Cote’s ruling finding the company guilty of antitrust violations went long on Monday morning, in part because Deputy Solicitor General Malcolm Stewart arguing for the government was allowed to go 16 minutes beyond his allotted 20-minute slot. (Sarah Weinman has called in this first report immediately after the hearing let out. She will be filing a full report here within the hour.) Also appearing today were lawyers were Simon & Schuster and Macmillan, advancing their argument that the court’s injunction on Apple unfairly imposes adverse effects on the publishers, […]
Court Hears Appeal of “Fair Use” Ruling on Google’s Book Scanning
The Authors Guild had might be their final day in court in opposition to Google’s scanning of books in academic libraries on Wednesday, in a hearing before a three-judge panel of Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The Guild is appealing Judge Denny Chin’s ruling from November 2013 finding Google’s scanning of library books “highly transformative” after eight years of litigation. The Guild argued in their appeal that, “While Google may have figured out a way to transform the creative output of authors into advertising dollars for Google’s shareholders, Google’s unauthorized commercial uses are not transformative within the copyright law.” In […]
Judge Cote Rubber-Stamps Apple Settlement
In a hearing Friday morning Judge Denise Cote approved the settlement agreed upon between Apple, the plaintiff states, and the consumer class. As previously reported, the settlement hinges upon how the 2nd Circuit of Appeals will rule — whenever that happens — on Apple’s appeal of Judge Cote’s July 2013 verdict finding the company guilty of violating antitrust actions. Oral arguments for the appeal are set for December 15. If Apple’s appeal is denied, they will pay $450 million, including administrative and legal costs, to the states and consumer class. If Judge Cote’s ruling is sent back to her by […]
Amazon Wins .Book Domain Auction
Amazon’s Luxembourg subsidiary has won the auction for the .book domain. The company prevailed over nine competitors, including Google and Bowker, the latter reportedly the last to drop out, according to the Register. Terms of the auction were not disclosed but it is understood to have been “between $5 million and $10 million.” Though not reported elsewhere, according to the ICANN database, Amazon also appears to be the only contender for the .author domain as well, listed as “in contracting” (which has its own peculiar meaning for ICANN). When Amazon first applied for the .book domain in early 2013, the company said it would run it […]
AAP Asks for Full Appeals Court to Review GSU Decision
Following last month’s favorable ruling from a three-panel Appeals Court panel in the Georgia State University case considering fair use in academic digital reserves, the AAP is pressing the issue by asking for the full Court of Appeals to review the case. The AAP is seizing upon the unusual “concurring” opinion appended to the Appeals Court ruling by Judge C. Roger Vinson. It’s a bit of a misnomer, since Judge Vinson actually disagreed with the other two judges; to him, the case was quite simple (“GSU’s use of Plaintiffs’ copyright protected works without compensation was, in a word, unfair”). In a release explaining […]