The case brought by authors and publishers over Google’s vast book-digitizing project is headed to trial at last. But the parties told the federal judge handling the matter that there is still hope for some kind of settlement.
At a status conference on Thursday in Manhattan, Judge Denny Chin agreed to a trial schedule that would have the litigants in court by next summer. However, lawyers in the case told Judge Chin that settlement talks, especially those between Google and publishers, had made progress, Publishers Weekly and other news media reported.
In March the judge rejected a proposed settlement, saying it overreached. The Department of Justice, a number of academic authors, and numerous other groups also opposed the deal.
But Judge Chin also said that Google’s proposed digital library would increase public access to knowledge, and he encouraged the parties to keep talking.
All of the parties to the case said on Thursday that they would continue those discussions. “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,” Tom Allen, president and chief executive of the publishers’ association, said in a statement after the status conference. “We are working to resolve the differences that remain between the parties and reach terms that are mutually agreeable.”
Google offered a ray of hope in its own statement. But it also sounded prepared for a courtroom battle. “We’re encouraged by the progress we’ve made with publishers, and we believe we can reach an agreement that offers great benefits to users and rights holders alike,” a company spokesperson said via e-mail. “We will continue to explore options with the authors.
“However, we proposed an aggressive timeline to resume the original litigation, and we were heartened by Judge Chin’s agreement on a speedy schedule for proceeding. As we have said all along, Google Books was built to be fully compliant with copyright laws.”
In 2005 the Authors Guild brought a class-action suit on behalf of authors against Google, arguing that its Book Search project violated copyright law. Five publishers and Mr. Allen’s association filed their own civil lawsuit. Although all of the plaintiffs joined in reaching the proposed settlement with Google, the publishers could settle their complaint while the authors proceed to trial.
