In a filing last Friday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) urged a federal judge to reject the class action settlement in The Authors Guild Inc. et al. v. Google Inc.–pushing for revisions in this Google Books settlement.
Federal judge Denny Chin has handled the complicated case for months, deciding the fate of Google’s massive database of scanned book titles. In the filing, the DOJ worried about licensing problems that could arise in the future, complaints from foreign writers and publishers, and the lack of “comparable access” for Google’s many competitors. The settlement was also a hot button topic on today’s Morning Media Menu.
Here’s more from the DOJ filing: “Given the parties’ express commitment to ongoing discussions to address concerns already raised and the possibility that such discussions could lead to a settlement agreement that could legally be approved by the Court, the public interest would best be served by direction from the Court encouraging the continuation of those discussions between the parties and, if the Court so chooses, by some direction as to those aspects of the Proposed Settlement that need to be improved. Because a properly structured settlement agreement in this case offers the potential for important societal benefits, the United States does not want the opportunity or momentum to be lost.”