Google hearing postponed

The Fairness Hearing concerning the Google Settlement terms that was due to proceed in a New York court next month has been postponed. A status conference will be held instead on the 7th October to determine how the case should be approached.

Last week the US Department of Justice requested that the Settlement should not go through in its current form, recommending that it be brought into line with US copyright and anti-trust laws.

Judge Chin said, “under the circumstances, it makes no sense to conduct a hearing on the fairness and reasonableness of the current settlement agreement, as it does not appear that the current settlement will be the operative one.”

Among the many bodies that have contested the Settlement in its current form are the Authors Guild, American Association of Publishers, Amazon, Yahoo and Microsoft. Main concerns centre around Google’s potential power of controlling book prices and the issue of Google’s exclusive control over orphaned works in which the rights holder cannot be traced.

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