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HathiTrust Suspends Its Orphan Works Release
Following the filing of a lawsuit over its scanning and orphan works initiative, HathiTrust this morning said it would suspend indefinitely its plan to release a set of 140 orphan works until is processes for determining copyright status are improved.
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Judge Adopts Trial Schedule At Google Status Conference, but Settlement Talks Continue
The Google Books case is headed to litigation. At a status conference Thursday, Judge Denny Chin adopted a proposed trial schedule that, if followed, would have the case ready for trial by July 2012. But the conference also offered a ray of hope, as attorneys said that settlement talks were progressing
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Authors Guild Sues Libraries Over Scan Plan
With the Google Settlement poised to meet its ultimate demise as early as Thursday, when the parties are scheduled to appear before Judge Denny Chin for a status conference, the Authors Guild yesterday filed a new lawsuit against a consortium of university libraries over a digitization initiative known as HathiTrust.
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Authors Guild Sues University Libraries
With the Google Settlement in tatters, and the case expected to soon head back to litigation, the Authors Guild has announced that it has doubled down on its infringement claims by suing a consortium of university libraries over its digital initiative known as HathiTrust.
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Second Circuit Copyright Ruling Could Affect Libraries
Librarians say their core activities are in question after the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a decision finding that the “First Sale” doctrine in U.S. copyright law—the provision that enables libraries to lend books they’ve purchased—does not apply to works manufactured outside the U.S.
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With the Freelance Settlement Rejected, What's Next?
On August 17, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals sent the parties in the long-running class action suit known shorthand as Freelance back to the drawing board, rejecting an $18 million settlement struck in 2005.
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More Lawsuits Over Agency Model
A class action lawsuit over e-book pricing filed against five major publishers and Apple has begun to sprawl, with four new "copycat" lawsuits filed last week. Two suits, filed in Manhattan, add Random House as a defendant, while a third suit, also in Manhattan, adds Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
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Second Circuit Rejects "Freelance" Settlement
A two-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday rejected an $18 million settlement in the long-running class action suit filed by freelance writers following the landmark Tasini case, and in the process have likely killed the chances of a revised settlement in the Google Books case.
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With Final Filings, Parties in GSU E-Reserve Case Await Verdict
The parties in the closely-watched e-reserves trial at Georgia State University have filed what are likely to their final documents, and a verdict by federal judge Orinda Evans could come any day.
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The Breakup: Are the Google Settlement Parties Headed for Splitsville?
Breaking up is hard to do, and for the parties in the Google Books litigation a potentially messy breakup looms. Can these factions make enough progress on a revised settlement agreement in the next six weeks to avoid that fate?
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Citing Wal-Mart, Objector Files Brief Challenging Google Settlement Status
After judge Denny Chin gave the parties in the Google Books litigation until September 15 to come back with a revised settlement, an objector asked the court to drop the class-action status of the suit, based on the Supreme Court's recent ruling in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes et al.
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Judge Concerned with Lack of Progress in Revised Google Settlement Talks
Lawyers for the parties in the Google Book Settlement asked U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin for more time to negotiate a revised deal but, in sharp contrast to the last meeting, Chin expressed "concern" about the lack of progress and wondered whether there was in fact a deal to be made.
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Revised Google Settlement Can Wait—But Can Judge Chin?
What’s going on with a revised Google Settlement? Some talking, but probably not very much progress, say court-watchers, noting that the odds of seeing a revised settlement proposal in 2011 may be long.
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Arguments in GSU E-Reserves Trial Conclude; Judge Deals Publishers a Quick Loss on One Count
The closely-watched Georgia State University e-reserves trial wrapped up in Atlanta Wednesday, with closing arguments by both sides. Judge Orinda Evans will now decide the case, following two scheduled rounds of post-trial filings, due on July 15, and July 22. But in a setback for publishers, Evans will decide the case on a single claim of “indirect liability” after granting a defense motion for a “directed verdict” that in effect dismissed publishers’ contributory infringement claim (although it is subject to appeal). In granting the defendant’s motion for a directed verdict, Evans for all intents and purposes ruled that publishers failed to present a contributory infringement claim upon which they could prevail.
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No Progress on Google Book Settlement Talks;Tone Changing?
At a status hearing that lasted all of five minutes, attorney Bruce Keller told Judge Chin that no decisions have been reached on any key issues in the Google Book Settlement, but that the parties still hoped to see if an amicable resolution is possible. Keller, representing the publishers, was the only one to speak at the hearing and said he spoke for all parties, which also includes Google and the Authors Guild. Keller asked Chin for another 60 days to continue to negotiate. Chin, saying he understood it was a complicated issue, set the next status hearing for July 19.
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A New Balance of Power: After the Google Book Settlement
In a wide-ranging webinar discussion on May 10, "What Comes After the Google Book Settlement," a panel of experts said they expected some adjusted form of the settlement to emerge from Judge Denny Chin's rejection of the book settlement on March 22.
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GSU E-Reserves Trial To Begin Next Week
Despite a flurry of last-minute briefs, as of today the most significant copyright trial since the Kinko's coursepack litigation, Cambridge University Press et al v. Patton et al, is still on track to begin on Monday, May 16. The case revolves around the practice known as electronic reserves at Georgia State University. And while initial reports have characterized publishers as facing a difficult road, a pre-trial memorandum filed by publishers' attorneys on April 29 outlines a case that could be stronger than previously thought.
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Publishers Weekly, Digital Book World to Host May 10 WEBinar on the Google Settlement
After years of debate and discussion, on March 22 Judge Denny Chin rejected the Google Book Settlement, an unprecedented class action deal that held major ramifications for the publishing industry. What does the settlement’s failure now hold for the future of books, and the industry? Join us on May 10 at 1 PM EST / 11 AM PST for a timely, free WEBcast that will recap the settlement’s long and winding legal path to date, and look ahead to what comes next, not just for the parties, who are said to be working on a scaled-back, revised settlement proposal, but for a wide range of stakeholders, including authors, and librarians.
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Google Status Conference is Delayed
The book world was scheduled to get a little better sense of what was next for the Google Settlement later today as the parties were scheduled to gather in judge Denny Chin’s courtroom at 4:30 pm for a court-ordered status conference. But that conference has now been postponed until June 1.
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Judge Sets Trial Date in Georgia State University E-Reserves Lawsuit
Buried beneath the news of the Google Settlement’s rejection last week, a federal judge in Georgia has paved the way for publishers to go to trial in a contentious copyright case involving e-reserve practices at Georgia State University. On March 17, Judge Orinda Evans denied a GSU motion to dismiss the final count in the suit, setting May 16th as a trial date. The order comes after Evans denied all three of the publishers’ motions for summary judgment, while granting two of three GSU motions to dismiss, in October, 2010. She allowed the action to proceed on a single, more narrowly drawn charge of contributory infringement.
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