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After Ruling, Google and Authors Guild Appear Headed for Trial
On May 31, Judge Denny Chin rejected Google's motion to dismiss the Authors Guild as an associational plaintiff, and granted the Authors Guild's motion for class certification.
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Authors Guild Responds to Chin's Latest Ruling in Google Case
Responding to a positive twist in the Google case, after Judge Denny Chin granted authors class certification, the Authors Guild's executive director, Paul Aiken, called the decision a "key ruling for all U.S. authors whose literary works have been appropriated by Google."
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Big Win For Authors Guild in Google Case
The battle is officially on. On May 31, Judge Denny Chin rejected Google’s motion to dismiss the Authors Guild as an associational plaintiff, and granted the Authors Guild’s motion for class certification, meaning that Google’s library scanning program, barring another settlement, is headed to trial on the merits.
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Momentum Books Dropping DRM
Momentum Books, Pan Macmillan Australia’s digital-only imprint, announced that by early August all its titles would be released without DRM. The move by Momentum follows recent announcements by sister company Tor that it will also drop DRM.
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ALA 2012: PW Talks with Jonathan Band, Lawyer to the Library Community
Ahead of the 2012 American Library Association conference, intellectual property attorney Jonathan Band discusses the latest on the Georgia State University verdict.
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What the Georgia State Verdict Means for Libraries and the Publishing Industry
A judge rebuked publishers, who had sought a sweeping injunction that could have had major implications for the use of unlicensed course content throughout higher education. PW looks at what the decision means for libraries and publishers.
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Expanding the License
While licensors have typically granted their print licensees limited rights for e-book conversions—sometimes with narration, music, or sound effects—publishers increasingly want to add animation, interactivity, or original content. Random House asks its licensors for rights to all digital formats, including standard e-books, e-books with audio, enhanced e-books, and apps.
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AAP Expresses "Disappointment" in GSU Verdict
The Association of American Publishers has released a statement on Friday's ruling in Cambridge University Press et al v. Patton et al, the e-reserves case at Georgia State University, expressing disappointment and calling some of the court's fair use findings "mistaken."
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Judge Delivers Mixed Verdict in GSU E-reserves Case
After nearly a year of deliberation, Judge Orinda Evans last week delivered the long awaited verdict in Cambridge University Press et al. v. Patton case, the Georgia State University e-reserve case.
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Judge to Decide Fate of Authors Guild Class Action Against Google
From the questions he asked from the bench, it certainly seems like Judge Denny Chin wants to see the Authors Guild lawsuit against Google and its library book-scanning program proceed as a class action. But after a morning of oral arguments in Manhattan, it is unclear if that can happen.
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In Amicus Brief, Library Groups Assail Authors Guild Bid to Shutter HathiTrust
According to an amicus brief prepared on behalf of three major library organizations, the motion for partial summary judgment filed in February by the Authors Guild in its lawsuit against the HathiTrust reflects a deeply flawed, distorted view of libraries’ rights.
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Guild Motion Asks for Quick Ruling on HathiTrust’s Fair Use Defense
Although the Google Book Settlement has been rejected by the court, the Authors Guild is placing the question of fair use front and center in a motion filed February 28.
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Copyright at a Crossroads: William Patry
If there was any question that copyright law in the digital age is reaching a critical point, a coalition of Web sites on January 18 offered a stark reminder. In the largest online protest in Internet history, some 7,000 popular sites went dark or otherwise altered their sites, successfully protesting two controversial copyright proposals introduced in Congress—the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) the PROTECT IP Act, also known as PIPA.
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I-School Confidential: ‘PW’ talks with future librarians
Earlier this month, I took advantage of a gracious offer from PW contributing editor Nancy Pearl and traveled to Seattle, to meet 11 of Nancy’s students in the Information School at the University of Washington. I wanted to see who is choosing to go into the profession, and why. What are their thoughts on the way the information world—and the publishing industry—is developing?
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Libraries, Tech-Smart Authors, and the Coming Digital Apocalypse
Whatever else can be said about Tools of Change, O’Reilly Media’s traveling road show on publishing and technological change, it seems to come along just when a concentrated dose of discussion—or perhaps muted confrontation—is needed. Over the course of the three-day conference in New York City, February 13–15, there were timely presentations on libraries and e-books, the bewildering evolution of copyright in the digital era and the related role of digital piracy—not to mention a parade of authors, whose books and entertaining presentations served to illuminate some of the most contentious issues in media and business culture.
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Open Road Denies 'Wolves' Infringement Charges
Open Road Integrated Media denied charges made by HarperCollins that it infringed HC’s copyright when it published an e-book edition of Jean Craighead George’s Julie of the Wolves, but in a twist George has asked to be made part of Open Road’s case.
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Publishers Score Win in International Piracy Battle
An international alliance of publishers and publishing associations has succeeded in getting a Munich court to serve cease and desist orders to the operators of two Web sites that have been illegally offering more than 400,000 copyrighted books for free.
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AAUP Opposes Research Works Act, FRPAA
The Association of American University Presses this week said it does not support the Research Works Act, and also voiced opposition to a competing bill, Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA), which would mandate public access.
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Could Backlash to Research Works Act Boost FRPAA’s Odds of Passage?
Congress last week introduced the Federal Research Public Access Act of 2012 (FRPAA), a bill that would mandate free public online access to taxpayer-funded research for all federal agencies with extramural research budgets over $100 million.
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ALA Midwinter 2012: Panel Tells Librarians to Go Forth and Digitize
Despite recent lawsuits over e-reserves, digital archives, and orphan works, at a two-hour program at ALA Midwinter, panelists urged librarians to go forth and digitize, that they already have the sturdy legal cover they need to proceed: fair use.
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