The long-running fight over Google’s decision to scan the world’s library books took a new twist on Wednesday as an appeals court pushed the parties over copyright law’s “fair use” doctrine. Read more »
In “The Slow Death of the American Author,” Scott Turow decries the state of the country’s copyright system. He gets it wrong and hurts the Authors Guild’s standing among potential allies. Read more »
Amazon’s purchase of Goodreads, an influential and independent social network for book lovers, is drawing fire from the Authors Guild. Read more »
A flood of new website addresses with endings like “.book” and “.movie” are set to arrive in coming months. Companies like Amazon and Google are set to control the names but the terms under which they will do so are still undefined. Read more »
A federal court has found that scanning books for search — which Google was doing for a university project called the Hathi Trust — is clearly covered by the “fair use” principle in copyright law, which could help Google in its own lawsuit with the Authors Guild. Read more at GigaOM »
An appeals court granted a stay in the copyright dispute between the Authors Guild and Google so it can review a lower court’s decision to let the class action advance. The literary community is watching to learn if Google’s book scanning will be considered “fair use.” Read more »
The long-running copyright lawsuit over Google’s book scanning — in which the Authors Guild is seeking $750 per book — is turning into a procedural snarl as both the case and an appeal go forward at the same time. A new order confirms that the parties are due in court in December. Read more »
The Department of Justice wants the court to accept its proposed ebook pricing settlement with Apple and book publishers, but presiding Judge Denise Cote is allowing more parties who oppose the settlement — the Authors Guild and attorney Bob Kohn — to weigh in as amici curiae. Read more »
In a filing late Wednesday in response to Apple and book publishers, the Department of Justice reiterates its claim that agency pricing and the alleged conspiracy have resulted in “unmistakable consumer harm,” but refuses to release its ebook pricing analysis. Read more »
Judge Denny Chin has allowed a coalition of scholars, librarians and digital activists to file briefs in support of Google as part of the long-running copyright controversy over the company’s book scanning. The ruling will serve to draw further attention to fair use issues. Read more »
Along with Apple, publishers Penguin and Macmillan and the Authors Guild submitted filings criticizing the DOJ’s proposed ebook settlement on Wednesday. They argue that the DOJ has not provided analysis of Amazon’s ebook pricing and say the settlement goes too far. Read more »
Google can appeal an order that let the Authors Guild go forward with a class action lawsuit over book scanning. This means current proceedings will be on hold until a higher court either dismisses the case or offers guidance on what should happen next. Read more »
Recent reports say Google could be on the hook for billions if it loses a long-running copyright case with the Authors Guild. A closer look at the claims, however, show that only a fraction of authors would be eligible to collect. Read more »
A court filing provides new details about how Google scanned 20 million books and its reasons for doing so. The new facts come at a time when the long running case between Google and the Authors Guild is heading to an end game. Read more »
The long-running lawsuit over Google’s decision to scan millions of books could be nearing the end game. Google’s latest filing, in a case poised to redefine copyright law, cites everything from Mad Men to minority rights to argue that book scanning is “fair use.” Read more »
The Justice Department today answered 868 public comments it received in response to a controversial settlement over alleged price-fixing between Apple and publishers. The Department said it will not change the terms of the deal — and effectively told its critics to jump in the lake. Read more »
Trust-busting and 50 Shades of Grey were hot topics at last night’s annual Authors Guild Dinner where famous writers read modern-day rejection letters to Homer, F Scott Fitzgerald and others. Read more »
In a major development in the long-running case over Google’s unauthorized book-scanning, a federal judge ruled today that groups representing authors and photographers could go forward with a class action. Read more »
More than a year after Judge Denny Chin blew up an epic settlement agreement, Google and the Authors Guild are back in court today. Read more »
Barnes & Noble has said it won’t carry Amazon Publishing titles in its stores, but it’s backing down in the case of the children’s book line Amazon recently acquired. Read more »
The Authors Guild weighs in on the news that the Department of Justice is investigating Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and five of the big-six publisher… Read more »
The fate of Google’s massive book scanning project has been up in the air since a legal settlement collapsed last year. New court filings th… Read more »
It’s been more than six years since the Authors Guild first sued Google (NSDQ: GOOG) for scanning books. Today, with a proposed settlement i… Read more »
The Authors Guild is taking a stand against the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, Amazon’s new initiative allowing Kindle-owning Prime members… Read more »
The ugly fight between writers and universities over book scanning is getting bigger. The Authors’ Guild yesterday updated its court complai… Read more »
The Authors Guild is crowing after universities decided to suspend the release of over 100 orphan works — in-copyright books whose owners c… Read more »
Google (NSDQ: GOOG), authors and publishers have been locked in a stalemate since last March when a federal judge rejected their ambitious b… Read more »
