UPDATE: Google Library Triumphs; Judge Throws the Book at The Authors Guild

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Citing the "significant public benefits" Google Books' Library Project provides, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Denny Chin today ended an eight-year battle and dismissed the copyright infringement suit brought by The Authors Guild against Google, Inc.

The case, The Authors Guild et al. v. Google Inc. (Case No. 1:05-cv-08136) was brought by The Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers in 2005, alleging the search engine colossus' ambitious project of uploading the collections of the Library of Congress, New York Public Library and several university libraries violated the Digital Millenium Copyright Act [Pub. Law 105-304]. Google, which already has scanned more than 20 million books, countered that their actions were protected by the fair use doctrine.

Judge Chin, while conceding Google had not obtained permission from copyright holders before scanning their works, noted the project's value to scholars, the increased access to readers and the enhanced revenue opportunities for authors and publishers as among the benefits Google Books provided that warranted fair use protection. The book scanning process, Judge Chin ruled, was transformational.

The epic struggle between the two sides has been chronicled in this blog (see "TUOL" posts 7/2/13, 11/16/12, 9/19/12 & 2/19/10) and most recently, included the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversing the trial court last summer by holding the plaintiffs were not entitled to class action status.

According to accounts in the Wall St. Journal Law Blog and THR, Esq. blog, The Authors Guild plans to appeal Judge Chin's decision.

UPDATE: Fed Appeals Court Knocks Down Class Action Status in Epic Google/Authors Guild Struggle

In a unanimous five-page decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Monday reversed a ruling affording class action status to the plaintiff in the eight-year-old litigation, The Authors Guild, Inc. et al. v. Google, Inc. (Docket No. 12-3200-cv), PaidContent.org. reported.

"We conclude that class certification was premature in the absence of a determination by the District Court of the merits of Google's 'fair use' defense," according to the appellate court ruling.  Could make for some awkward moments in Second Circuit Court cafeteria, as the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York judge being overruled here is Denny Chin, who now serves as a judge on the Second Circuit, though he continues to preside over the Authors Guild/Google case.

As reported here previously (see "TUOL" post 9/19/12), Google, Inc.'s master plan to create the planet's largest digital library--20 million plus books already have been scanned--was challenged in 2005 by The Authors Guild, a nonprofit industry group numbering some 8,500 members, as a purported copyright infringement under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act [Pub. Law 105-304]. Google has countered that neglected and difficult to find works will be more easily accessed and authors won't be harmed if its plan for world domination...er...a world library were realized.  Moreover, Google has relied on the defense against copyright infringement of fair use [17 U.S.C. sec. 107], a four-pronged test that looks at the purpose and character of the proposed use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount and substantiality of the portion of the work used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole and the effect of the use on the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work to determine whether a copyright holder's consent is required before his or her material is used. 
                                                                          

                                                                                           
The appellate court panel sending back the case to their colleague Judge Chin and decertifying the class action status of the case is a positive development for Google that, among other things, means several fewer zeroes at the end of any verdict were The Authors Guild ultimately to prevail in the suit.  Google has questioned the class action status of the plaintiff throughout the case, arguing that it, in effect, caused authors who were not troubled by Google's digital scanning of books to sit in the same section as authors opposed to it.

UPDATE: Google Tries to Knock Out Digital Library Class Action Suit

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Insisting that scanning 20 million books to create the world's largest digital library constitutes a fair use, Google, Inc., last week filed a motion in a New York federal court to dismiss a class action copyright infringement suit, Paid Content (www.paidcontent.org) reports.

The seven-year-old case, The Authors Guild, Inc. et al. v. Google Inc. (Case No. 12-3200) (see "TUOL" posts 9/19/12, 2/19/10) involves a claim by the 8,500-member Guild that Google violated the Digital Millenium Copyright Act [Pub. Law 105-304] by infringing on authors' works.  In its latest motion, Google argues that digital scanning is a transformative use of the copyrighted works and not an infringement. The search engine giant also contends that the authors should not be allowed to sue collectively as a class because many of them allegedly favor the digital scanning.

The Authors Guild wants $750 per book from Google, but Google maintains the scanned versions don't compete with the hand-held existing versions of the books at issue and do not diminish the value of the existing books.

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.