Revised Google Books settlement due Nov. 9

Motoko Rich, Judge Sets Nov. 9 Deadline For Revised Google Book Settlement, New York Times: Media Decoder blog, October 7, 2009.

The federal judge who is responsible for reviewing the Google book settlement that would create a vast digital library has set Nov. 9 as the date by which Google and its partners must submit a revised settlement for the court's preliminary approval.

The original agreement, which was reached last October between Google and representatives of the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers, was derailed by numerous objections from authors, academics, librarians, public interest groups and would-be rivals, as well as the Justice Department, which recommended in a filing last month that the court reject the settlement of the class-action suit as it currently stands. ...

[Michael J. Boni, a lawyer representing the Authors Guild] said the parties "have worked on a daily basis assiduously" to modify the settlement and hoped to submit an amended document to the court in early November, with a target date of late December or early January for a final hearing on the settlement.

Mr. Boni also appealed to the judge to allow Google and its partners to offer a truncated notice period to give all parties affected by the settlement time to review the amendments. He also said Google and its partners had agreed to extend a deadline for authors to claim books already scanned by Google from Jan. 5 to June 5, 2010. ...

Bill Cavanaugh, a deputy assistant attorney general in the antitrust division of the Justice Department, said the government had already had discussions with the parties to the settlement about modifications but had not yet seen a preliminary amended agreement. ...

Paul Aiken, executive director of the Authors Guild, said in an interview that the changes would be minor. "We would not be able to do it by Nov. 9" if they were more substantial, he said. "The core agreement is going to stay the same. We are amending limited portions of the settlement agreement." ...

James Grimmelmann, GBS: Status Conference Status, The Laboratorium, October 7, 2009.

• ... The parties plan to renotice, but with an abbreviated period. They expect the supplemental notice will cover only the amendments, and that objections will be confined to the amendments. There will be a fresh opportunity to opt-out or to opt-in. Judge Chin indicated his general approval of this plan. ...
• Boni indicated that the amended notice would largely explain additional "benefits" to the class. That could be interpreted as his lawyerly spin on the changes, an indication that about their scope, or both. ...

See also our past post on the settlement revision.