Open Access News

News from the open access movement


Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Preliminary approval of Google settlement

Larry Neumeister, NY judge tentatively OKs Google copyright deal, Associated Press, November 17, 2008.  (Thanks to Charles Bailey.)  Excerpt:

A judge has tentatively approved a settlement of lawsuits between Google and book authors and publishers that may put millions of out-of-print texts online.

The settlement was announced by Google and the publishing industry in October. Final court approval is still needed.

Federal Judge John Sprizzo in Manhattan gave initial approval Friday. His order was put in the public record on Monday.

Sprizzo set a June hearing date for a final settlement and hearing to decide if the deal is fair, reasonable and adequate....

Comments

  • I'm a little surprised, in part because there are many serious objections to the settlement (alongside many serious endorsements), and in part because the settlement is so large and complicated that I would not have thought a judge could read it with the care required for a preliminary judgment, and weigh up its vast array of pros and cons, this soon after its release.  The settlement was released on October 28, and Judge Sprizzo filed his preliminary approval on November 15, just 19 days later.
  • See my own comments on the settlement and my four collections of comments by others (1, 2, 3, and 4).