Google Book Settlement

Via District Dispatch:

The Association of Research Libraries, the American Library Association, and the Association of College and Research Libraries have prepared The Google Books Settlement: Who Is Filing And What Are They Saying? (PDF) to summarize in a few pages of charts some key information about the hundreds of filings that have been submitted to the federal district court presiding over the Google Books litigation. There have been over 400 filings by class-members and amici, and the charts are meant to give the reader a general idea of who these filers are and what they are saying about the Settlement. In response to the filings, especially in reaction to the brief filed by the U.S. Department of Justice on September 18, 2009, there is a chance the proposed agreement will change substantially. The parties are now in renegotiation of the Settlement terms.

Many thanks to Brandon Butler, Legal and Policy Fellow for the Association of Research Libraries, for creating this document.

The Google Books Settlement: Who Is Filing And What Are They Saying?

The proposed Google Book Search settlement appeals to one of the most complex questions faced by an evolving library community: What is the future of access to books and digital information? The settlement touches on many issues central to libraries, such as information access, reader privacy, fair use, and freedom of inquiry. Through a class action settlement, the agreement combines complicated legal, economic, and policy questions that many feel should be carefully scrutinized through the lens of equitable public access to information. Libraries have been key players in digitization initiatives, years before the Google Book settlement. Do our strategies change in light of the settlement?  How can we continue our mission to be stewards of the world’s cultural heritage? The D is for Digitize conference brings together leading public interest, academic, legal and business minds to tackle these important and timely topics.

The American Library Association is sponsoring Friday’s lunch conversation titled “K is for Keynote.” The discussion will feature Pamela Samuelson from the University of California – Berkeley, and Paul Courant from the University of Michigan. The session will be moderated by James Grimmelmann from New York Law School.

When: October 8-10, 2009
Where: New York Law School, 185 West Broadway, New York, NY 10013