There will be a delay in the Google proceedings after all. In a scheduling order filed late Friday, August 17, Judge Denny Chin, at the request of the plaintiffs (who cited an “urgent health issue,”) agreed to delay the current schedule, including the opposition briefs that were due to be filed this week. Under the new schedule, the opposition briefs originally due on August 24, are now due by October 24; replies in support of the cross-motions for summary judgment, (as well as the plaintiffs’ opposition to the amicus briefs filed last week) are due by November 19; oral argument on the motions for summary judgment are now slated to begin on December 4.
The delay comes just two days after an August 15 scheduling order that affirmed the previous schedule, dispelling speculation that the proceedings would be suspended while the Second Circuit took on Google's appeal of Chin's decision to certify the case as a class action. The new schedule also makes it more likely that we will see a decision first in the Authors Guild vs. HathiTrust case, a parallel suit that addresses some of the same fair use arguments in the Google case pertaining to mass digitization. That HathiTrust case is now fully briefed, and on schedule for a November trial.
