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The UK Publishers Association has described the request by the US Authors Guild and the American Association of Publishers for the Fairness Hearing into the Google Settlement to be postponed as “the right move”.
Simon Juden, chief executive of the trade body, said: “They’re taking on board concerns which have been raised and which need to be treated seriously. It is the right move from the parties to the settlement.”
The Authors Guild and the AAP asked US federal judge Denny Chin on Tuesday to postpone the Fairness Hearing until 6th November. This followed a filing by the US Justice Department late on Friday urging the New York court presiding over the deal to “reject the proposed settlement in its current form and encourage the parties to continue negotiations to modify it so as to comply with . . copyright and antitrust laws”.
The Open Book Alliance, which opposes the deal and includes Amazon and Microsoft among its members, said the request showed that “Google and its partners now agree that the settlement is dead”. “Any hope for revival of a settlement will require fundamental reforms,” it said in a statement. This is a huge victory for all those voices seeking to serve the public interest, protect innovation and promote competition.”
But Juden said he did not think the request was “the nail in the coffin” for the deal. “There are clearly serious concerns with the deal as it exists and those concerns have been expressed,” he said.
Juden said the PA was continuing to “engage with the ongoing process” and to talk to the parties involved about how it will affect the UK.
The trade body has remained neutral over the Google Books controversy, as it has “members who are negotiating, members who object and members who have opted out”, said Juden.