Google Book Search Hearing to Be Postponed
By Andrew Albanese -- Publishers Weekly, 9/22/2009 2:20:00 PM
The parties in the Google Book Search Settlement have asked the court to adjourn the scheduled October 7th fairness hearing, telling the court the parties intend to amend the deal. “Because the parties, after consultation with the DOJ, have determined that the Settlement Agreement that was approved preliminarily in November 2008 will be amended, plaintiffs respectfully submit that the Fairness Hearing should not be held, as scheduled, on October 7,” reads a memorandum appended to the parties motion to adjourn. “To continue on the current schedule would put the Court in a position of reviewing and having participants at the hearing speak to the original Settlement Agreement, which will not be the subject of a motion for final approval.” The court is expected to grant the motion.
The memorandum notes that the parties met with senior DOJ officials on September 17, one day before the DOJ filed its brief with the court outlining a range of concerns with the current settlement agreement. “Of key importance is that the U.S. Statement of Interest confirmed the DOJ’s reciprochal desire to work with the parties to address concerns,” the memo states. “It is because the parties wish to work with the DOJ to the fullest extent possible that they have engaged, and plan to continue to engage, in negotiations in an effort to address and resolve the concerns expressed in the U.S. Statement of Interest.” The parties reiterated their commitment to “rapidly advancing” discussions with the DOJ. The delay marks the second time the fairness hearing has been pushed back, the first time coming after lawyers for a group of authors led by Gail Steinbeck won a four month extension to the opt-out deadline.
The parties gave no time frame by which it might have an amended agreement, but asked the court to schedule a “status conference” on November 6, at which the parties “expect that they will be prepared to present to the Court a schedule for further proceedings, including a Fairness Hearing, in this case.”
Reworking the deal will not be an easy process, however, as the parties must address issues ranging from class action law to copyright, as well as antitrust and foreign rights issues. In the memorandum, the parties acknowledged that the issues raised in the U.S. Statement of Interest filed last week are “complex,” but stressed they are willing to attempt to re-work the settlement to satisfy government concerns. "Both the United States government and the parties are agreed: a properly structured settlement agreement in this case offers the potential for important societal benefits. Therefore, as the United States government put it, no one wants 'the opportunity or momentum to be lost.' ”
