Court Preliminarily Approves Google Settlement and . . .

by Janette Spencer-Davis, Legal Editor, CCH Copyright Law Reports   

The federal district court in New York City on November 19 preliminarily approved a revised proposed settlement agreement between Google and author and publisher groups regarding Google's rights to digitize and distribute millions of out-of-print titles. The settlement in Authors Guild, Inc. v. Google, Inc. would resolve claims that Google violated copyright laws by scanning books, creating an electronic database, and displaying excerpts without the permission of copyright holders.

The so-called "most-favored nation" clause, pertaining to licensing of unclaimed works, was removed from the revised settlement. The nonprofit Books Rights Registry will be free to license to other parties without extending the same terms to Google.

Another major change limits the agreement to books published in the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, and Australia. This change was intended to resolve objections by foreign governments that the settlement violated their copyright laws. The settlement agreement and other documents in Authors Guild, Inc. v. Google, Inc., No. 05-08136, are available on the Google Book Search Copyright Class Action Settlement Administrator's website.