Makinson Calls for Perspective in Wylie Dispute

While saying he was concerned about two key principals involved in the Wylie affair, Penguin Group chairman John Makinson called for some perspective on the matter. He noted that the titles in question,backlist books for which it is unclear who owns digital rights, constitute "a very small percentage" of Penguin's total revenue. He said the establishment of Odyssey Editions was an important event to follow, but said "I don't think it's a cosmic issue."

Wait Continues for Google Settlement Ruling

Some five months after the Google settlement's final fairness hearing, the parties still await word from the court on the landmark deal. In the only action from the court, a third delay was recently granted by Judge Denny Chin in the closely related visual artists' lawsuit against Google, which Chin, despite his recent promotion to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, is also hearing.

Ken Auletta, Marybeth Peters to Address IFRRO in First U.S-based Annual Conference Since 1989

The International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organizations (IFRRO) will hold its 2010 Annual General Meeting in in Boston from October 25-28, the first time the meeting has been in America since 1989. The meeting, themed "Advancing Licensing Solutions for a Changing World: Collaborating, Adapting, Building, Advocating," will bring together some 250 delegates from all over the world to discuss copyright related issues--from piracy, to broader legislative themes, and nuts and bolts practices, as well as hot topics of the day such as the Google books settlement.

Google Defeats Viacom's $1 Billion YouTube Suit

It isn't the books settlement, but in a major legal victory for Google, a New York court yesterday rejected Viacom's $1 billion copyright infringement suit against the search engine giant over its popular YouTube service. In a ruling that stunned court-watchers, most of whom expected the case to almost certainly go to trial (and most likely settle along the way), the court granted Google's motion for summary judgment.

Japanese, U.S. Manga Publishers Unite To Fight Scanlations

An international coalition of Japanese and American-based manga publishers have joined together to combat what they call the"rampant and growing problem" of scanlations, the practice of posting scanned and translated editions of Japanese comics online without permission of the copyright holders. The group is threatening legal action against 30 scanlation sites.

Arrest Ordered in Christian Book Copyright Infringement

A bench warrant has been issued for the arrest of Andrew Amue by the High Court in London after Amue failed to appear at a hearing to enforce a March 2008 order that he cease copyright infringement on hundreds of Christian books.

A Tantalizing Clue Suggests Google Settlement Might Keep Its Judge

Last week, Google settlement Judge Denny Chin, newly seated to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, issued a minor order in the recent lawsuit filed by visual artists against Google, to which he is also assigned. The order itself, listed on the New York Law School-run site devoted to the Settlement, The Public Index, is inconsequential, merely granting a short extension for Google to reply to the artists' complaint to May 21, 2010. But that Chin ruled at all may be a tantalizing sign that the Google settlement could stay with Chin despite his recent promotion.

Border War? In Legal Analysis, Attorney Says Google Settlement Would Cause "Diplomatic Stress"

In a legal analysis done for the Open Book Alliance, intellectual property lawyer Cynthia Arato, a partner at the law firm of Macht, Shapiro, Arato and Isseries, reiterated her belief that that the Google Books settlement in its current form "violates the treaty obligations of the U.S.," and, if approved, would "give rise to legal action against the U.S. before an international tribunal and will certainly expose the U.S. to diplomatic stress."

Revised Summary of Google Settlement Objections Issued

With the Google Settlement now in the hands of a federal judge, The Public Index, a group organized by New York Law School's James Grimmelmann and his students, have updated and posted a revised document that categorizes and summarizes the objections to the Google Settlement, and the plaintiff's responses to those objections. The 55-page report, an excellent resource for anyone researching the settlement and its pressure points, breaks the objections down into 11 categories: Fairness to Rightsholders; International; Jurisdiction; Class Action Procedure; Registry issues; Institutional Subscription; Antitrust issues; Privacy; Copyright Policy; and Information Policy.

Ending Secrecy, U.S. Releases Draft of ACTA

Judge Presiding Over Google Settlement Moves Up

In yet another twist in the Google Books Settlement, the judge presiding over the deal's approval, Denny Chin, was confirmed by the Senate for a seat on the Second Circuit Court of Appeal, raising a number of questions for the Google Settlement, as well as the recently filed suit by visual artists.

Google Launches Tool Showing Government Information and Takedown Requests

Privacy and free speech advocates this week are lauding Google for the launch of a new feature listing "government requests to remove content from our services," or to "provide information about users of our services and products." The feature is shown in the form of a map, and illustrates "the number of government requests received to remove content, and the percentage of those requests complied with" on a country-by-country basis. "At a time when increasing numbers of governments are trying to regulate the free flow of information on the Internet, we hope this tool will shine some light on the scale and scope of government requests to censor information or obtain user data around the globe," Google officials noted. "We welcome external debates about these issues that we grapple with internally on a daily basis."

Supreme Court Hands Down Major Free Speech Ruling

In what's being called a resounding victory for free speech, the U.S. Supreme Court in an 8-1 ruling overturned the conviction of a Virginia man who was sentenced to three years in prison for creating several videos that included scenes of dog fighting. Robert Stevens was found guilty under a federal statute that prohibits the creation, sale or possession of "a depictor of animal cruelty" with "the intention of placing the depiction in interstate or foreign commerce for commercial gain." The court, however, struck down the law, saying it "created a criminal prohibition of alarming breadth."

Artists and Photographers Sue Over Google Book Search

In the latest twist in the Google Book Search settlement saga, graphic artists and photographers today filed a class action suit in a federal court in New York claiming Google's book-scanning and display infringes the copyrights of artists and photographers. The suit, which seeks "monetary, injunctive, and declaratory relief," comes weeks after a contentious, daylong fairness hearing on the Google settlement, and months after Judge Denny Chin, now deciding the fate of that settlement, denied a request by the artists to join the $125 million class action settlement as a party.

The Objector

Since 2005, Muchnick has been the lead objector to a proposed settlement stemming from the central rights dispute of the digital age-Tasini v. New York Times-the landmark case in which members of the National Writers' Union sued the newspaper and some electronic aggregators for, well, piracy.

Deal or No Deal: Part II

On February 18, the Google Settlement is scheduled to have its long-awaited final fairness hearing in a Manhattan courtroom, although, court-watchers agree, it is unlikely that this next chapter, will be the last.

Richard Sarnoff: PW's Publishing Person of the Year

As a revised agreement now winds its way toward a scheduled February 18 fairness hearing—a hearing twice postponed in 2009—the controversial Google settlement's ultimate fate is still unclear. What has become increasingly clear, however, is that the historic debate the settlement has generated, as contentious as it has been, has already benefited the publishing industry.