Google Settlement Given Court’s Preliminary Approval

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Judge Denny Chin has granted the US District Court’s preliminary approval of the revised Google Settlement. The next stage will be a final hearing on 18th February 2010, which will examine the terms of the agreement and make a ruling on its full approval. The opt-out/opt-in and final objections deadline will be 28th January.

November, 24th UPDATE.
The Huffington Post garners opinion and comment from key voices here.

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One Comment;

  1. Inkling said:

    The judge’s preliminary approval is hardly surprising. Based on all we have to go on so far, his remarks in court, he seems utterly clueless about the real significance of this settlement. He’s over his head and sinking fast.

    That’s the bad news. The good news may be that his decision won’t matter much. Assuming Google’s attempts to treat all critics as if they had no standing fail, this dispute will continue to trouble us both on appeal in U.S. courts and in the international arena. This is a rare example of a situation where the needs of giant corporations (Microsoft and Amazon) overlap with those of little guys like the typical author and small publisher. No one but Google will benefit from this power grab.

    Despite attempts to placate Europeans by excluding them from what Google once toted as the settlement’s benefits for authors and publishers, opposition in Europe continues. Germany, for instance, isn’t about to give up their objections. Today’s Franfurter Allegemeine ran an article critical of the new settlement. You can find it here:

    http://www.faz.net/s/RubBE163169B4324E24BA92AAEB5BDEF0DA/Doc~ECED447221549465E81F6C4DA8D0C25B9~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html

    We could save several years that’d otherwise be wasted. if we’d abandon this absurd attempt to do an end run about international copyright treaties and simply revise those treaties for the new digital age. Berne, the most important of them, hasn’t been updated since 1979, and that’s at the root of our problem.

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