Judge Preliminarily Approves Revised Google Book Settlement

Posted on November 19, 2009

A federal judge today preliminarily approved a revised Google Book Settlement which removes most European authors from the deal. But the the Open Book Alliance still objects to the proposed settlement saying it gives Google a virtual monopoly on digital books.

In an order Thursday, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin in Manhattan granted preliminary approval to the pact and set Feb. 18 as the date for a fairness hearing on the settlement. Last week, Google, the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers submitted a revised agreement that would allow Google to distribute millions of digital copies of books online, but narrowed the number of books covered by the pact.
The revised settlement was designed to allay concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Justice and others that the original pact granted broad rights and immunities to Google and was anti-competitive. The Justice Department said earlier this week that its review of the revised settlement and its probe into the agreement is ongoing.

The Open Book Alliance's co-Chairman Peter Brantley said in a statement reported by Sci-Tech Today: "By performing surgical nip and tuck, Google, the AAP, and the AG are attempting to distract people from their continued efforts to establish a monopoly over digital-content access and distribution; usurp Congress' role in setting copyright policy; lock writers into their unsought registry, stripping them of their individual contract rights; put library budgets and patron privacy at risk; and establish a dangerous precedent by abusing the class-action process."

The hearing to determine fairness will give the objectors a forum to voice their opinions on the settlement.