San Francisco – Following a federal judge’s rejection of a
$125 million settlement between Google (NASD: GOOG) and authors and publishers over Google’s
book-scanning project, the parties continue to try to reach a deal, Wired.com
reports. "There’s nothing dead about the case or the settlement,"
Michael J. Boni, lead attorney for the Authors Guild, told Wired.com. "We’re
just considering what our next steps are. It’s gratifying that the publishers
have said they’re still interested in working something out. That’s
encouraging."
U.S. Circuit Court Judge Denny Chin said the settlement
would have been more likely to be approved had it been "opt-in,"
where publishers and authors would have to proactively authorize their works to
be scanned by Google.
Judge Chin also concluded that the settlement went too
far granting Google control over "orphan works" — an issue that
instead should be decided by Congress.
"There were far fewer objectors
than people believed and the press believed," Boni told Wired.com.
"It’s just that they were extremely vocal, in large part out of
self-interest."
A status conference in the case is scheduled for April 25.
Related Links:
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/03/google-books-not-dead/
http://tinyurl.com/4f9md7m (DMW previous coverage)
