Google Book Settlement: "NY Judge Gives Google, Lawyers More Time to Talk" and Other Notes

From the AP:

Lawyers for authors, publishers and Google have bought themselves more time in their New York copyright case as they try to reach a new deal that could create the world’s largest digital library.

The lawyers told federal Judge Denny Chin in Manhattan on Thursday that they are still negotiating.

Full Text AP Article

Law Professor and GBS expert James Grimmelmann and his students are reporting and tweeting about today’s meeting in NYC.

Key Tweets (So Far):

1. Publishers have their own suit and can settle on their own

2. During April/May 2011 their will be expert reports and depositions in the case Grimmelmann adds this is the real story coming out of today’s meeting

3. The Authors Guide v. HathiTrust lawsuit was not mentioned.

More Grimmelmann tweets are at: http://twitter.com/grimmelm

Statement by American Association of Publishers

5. Publishers and Google Report Progress in Negotiations (via AAP)

The following statement was released by Tom Allen, President and CEO, Association of American Publishers (AAP) at the conclusion of the status conference held today by Judge Denny Chin, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit:

“Today, we informed the court that the Association of American Publishers, the five publisher plaintiffs and Google have made good progress toward a settlement that would resolve the pending litigation regarding the Google Library Project. We are working to resolve the differences that remain between the parties and reach terms that are mutually agreeable.

“Over the past decade, publishers have made transformative creative, technological and financial investments to significantly expand the digital reach of their content. Protection of copyright in digital formats is essential to continue serving the interests of readers, researchers, authors, publishers and libraries.”

Quotes from Press Reports

1. “Google Reports Progress in Digital Books Settlement Talks” (via BW/Bloomberg)

“The parties are still talking,” Chin said in a hearing today in Manhattan federal court. “I’m hopeful, still hopeful.”

2. “Google Copyright Talks Continue With Publishers, Authors” (via WSJ) (subs only or via Google News)

“The judge also set a schedule for the parties to file motions for summary judgment, and possibly go to trial, if they don’t reach a revised deal.”

“This means we will be litigating this case another year at least,” the judge said.

3. “Judge extends time for Google digital books talks” (via Reuters)

“‘This is a case not particularly amenable to the services of the court,’ lawyer, Daralyn Jeannine Durie [Google], told Chin.”

“The Authors Guild lawyer, Michael Boni, presented a pretrial schedule to the court, saying the group “very much wants to work out a settlement” with the company.”

“Manhattan federal court Judge Denny  Chin told lawyers at a hearing that he was ‘still hopeful’ they could reach a settlement even though ‘you’re essentially starting from scratch.'”

4. “Judge Adopts Trial Schedule At Google Status Conference, but Settlement Talks Continue” (via Publisher’s Weekly)

There was also some discussion of what the trial might look like: As he did in the last status conference, Chin suggested the case was about “snippets.” Both attorneys for the Authors Guild and Publishers strongly rebutted that assertion, with AAP attorneys suggesting the case was about the unauthorized “copying, scanning, and storing” of books.

Filed under: Companies (Publishers/Vendors), Digital Collections, Digital Preservation, Interactive Tools, Libraries, News, Publishing, Reports