Brixy
04-29-2009, 02:14 AM
Google has asked a judge to extend by two months the deadline for authors and publishers to opt out of a settlement to a lawsuit over its plan to build the world's largest digital library.
The Google move came after a group of authors and their heirs asked the US District Court judge hearing the case to extend the May 5 deadline by four months to allow for more time to study the "enormously complex" settlement.
Google countered with its 60-day proposal and also asked that a so-called "fairness hearing" on the settlement before Judge Denny Chin, which is currently scheduled for June 11, be delayed until at least August 20.
The group of seven authors and their heirs, which include those of Nobel laureate John Steinbeck, asked the judge to hold the fairness hearing on the settlement to the Google Book Search lawsuit in October.
Google's move to push back the opt-out deadline and the fairness hearing by two months was backed by the Authors Guild and the American Association of Publishers (APP), which filed the class action lawsuit against the Internet search and advertising giant in 2005.
Google, the Authors Guild and APP announced a settlement to their copyright dispute in October 2008. Under the terms of the settlement, authors and their heirs or publishers had until May 5 to opt out of the agreement.
Alexander Macgillivray, a Google lawyer, said in a post on the company blog Monday that an extension would give Google more time to try to track down book rightsholders to inform them of their rights under the settlement.
He said Google had already spent millions of dollars trying to locate rightsholders around the world.
"The settlement is highly detailed, and we want to make sure rightsholders everywhere have enough time to think about it and make sure it's right for them," Macgillivray said. "That's why we've asked the court for permission to extend the opt-out deadline for an extra 60 days."
The settlement calls for Google to pay $176 million to establish an independent "Book Rights Registry," to resolve outstanding claims by authors and publishers and to cover legal fees from the lawsuits against Google.
The agreement, which is subject to Chin's approval and only applies to holders of US copyrights, provides future revenue to authors and publishers who agree to digitize their books with the Book Rights Registry.
Under the agreement, readers would be able to preview up to 20 percent of an copyrighted book and pay to see the entire book online.
Book prices would be set by the rightsholder or a Google algorithm.
Advertising would be carried on Web pages displaying the books but not on the books themselves with revenue to be divided 63-37 between the rightsholder and Google
ninemsn.com.au
The Google move came after a group of authors and their heirs asked the US District Court judge hearing the case to extend the May 5 deadline by four months to allow for more time to study the "enormously complex" settlement.
Google countered with its 60-day proposal and also asked that a so-called "fairness hearing" on the settlement before Judge Denny Chin, which is currently scheduled for June 11, be delayed until at least August 20.
The group of seven authors and their heirs, which include those of Nobel laureate John Steinbeck, asked the judge to hold the fairness hearing on the settlement to the Google Book Search lawsuit in October.
Google's move to push back the opt-out deadline and the fairness hearing by two months was backed by the Authors Guild and the American Association of Publishers (APP), which filed the class action lawsuit against the Internet search and advertising giant in 2005.
Google, the Authors Guild and APP announced a settlement to their copyright dispute in October 2008. Under the terms of the settlement, authors and their heirs or publishers had until May 5 to opt out of the agreement.
Alexander Macgillivray, a Google lawyer, said in a post on the company blog Monday that an extension would give Google more time to try to track down book rightsholders to inform them of their rights under the settlement.
He said Google had already spent millions of dollars trying to locate rightsholders around the world.
"The settlement is highly detailed, and we want to make sure rightsholders everywhere have enough time to think about it and make sure it's right for them," Macgillivray said. "That's why we've asked the court for permission to extend the opt-out deadline for an extra 60 days."
The settlement calls for Google to pay $176 million to establish an independent "Book Rights Registry," to resolve outstanding claims by authors and publishers and to cover legal fees from the lawsuits against Google.
The agreement, which is subject to Chin's approval and only applies to holders of US copyrights, provides future revenue to authors and publishers who agree to digitize their books with the Book Rights Registry.
Under the agreement, readers would be able to preview up to 20 percent of an copyrighted book and pay to see the entire book online.
Book prices would be set by the rightsholder or a Google algorithm.
Advertising would be carried on Web pages displaying the books but not on the books themselves with revenue to be divided 63-37 between the rightsholder and Google
ninemsn.com.au