Sylvia Kennick Brown, College Archivist, and Jeff Jones, College Counsel
June 11th, 2009
We'd like to bring to your attention information regarding the class action suit brought against Google by the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild of America. In brief, the suit asserts that Google violated the copyrights of publishers and authors by digitizing books without the copyright owners' permission. A settlement has been negotiated by the parties, and will be going before a Federal court for approval on Oct. 7, 2009. [Update: The original agreement is no longer on the table. Google must submit to the court a revised settlement by Nov. 9 for preliminary approval.] The settlement pertains to books registered in the U.S. Copyright Office on or before Jan. 5, 2009. "Books" as defined in the settlement do not include works in the public domain, government publications, personal papers, or periodicals.