UPDATE: Time Out in Google Digital Library Copyright Suit

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Associated Press reports that United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Judge Raymond J. Lohier, Jr. has ordered a stay of the The Authors Guild copyright infringement lawsuit against Mountain View, Calif.-based Google, Inc., pending Google's appeal of The Authors Guild being granted class status.

In its epic struggle against Google's efforts to amass the world's largest digital library (a purported 20 million books already have been scanned), The Authors Guild, a nonprofit New York-based 8,500-member strong industry group, contends Google is infringing on copyrights pursuant to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act [Pub. L. 105-304], which amended the Copyright Act of 1976 [17 U.S.C. sec. 1 et seq.], and its actions are not protected by the Act's Fair Use exception.  Google disputes that it is noncompliant with copyright laws.

Judge Denny Chin, who presently serves on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and has presided over the seven-year-old case, granted class status last May and denied Google's motion to stay the litigation pending its appeal of his ruling.