Latest Authors Guild Stories

Decision Will Revolutionize Blind People's Access to Books BALTIMORE, Oct. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) today applauded a decision issued on October 10, 2012, by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, which permits the distribution of millions of books to blind and print-disabled people. The ruling in Authors Guild, Inc., et al., v. HathiTrust, et al. (Case number: No. 11-cv-6351-HB) held that providing...

NEW YORK, Oct. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- National writers' organizations representing authors of books in a variety of genres believe a secret deal between Google and major book publishers may encourage Google to digitize, use, and sell copyrighted books illegally. The writers' groups ask the Department of Justice to review whether the terms of the secret deal may violate Federal antitrust law. Google and the Association of American Publishers (AAP) announced October 4 that...

Michael Harper for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Google has announced today they’ve been able to strike a deal with the Association of American Publishers, ending a 7-year spat between the two. With this settlement, Google may have one more stone in place to build out their eBook service, Google Books. In 2005, the AAP, along with McGraw-Hill, Penguin USA, Simon & Schuster, Pearson Education and John Wiley, filed a lawsuit against Google for copyright infringement over...

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. and WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Association of American Publishers (AAP) and Google today announced a settlement agreement that will provide access to publishers' in-copyright books and journals digitized by Google for its Google Library Project. The dismissal of the lawsuit will end seven years of litigation. The agreement settles a copyright infringement lawsuit filed against Google on October 19, 2005 by five AAP member...

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online A federal appeals court sided with Google on Monday when it ruled to delay a court challenge to the company’s plans to build a vast digital library. Judge Raymond J. Lohier Jr. of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan granted Google’s request to stay a lower court ruling while an appeals panel considers whether authors of the books should receive class status. The ruling further extends a copyright dispute that...

Enid Burns for redOrbit.com In Google's bid to create a digital book economy - way ahead of eBook publishers such as Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble and other creators of eBook readers - a few lawsuits cropped up in the U.S. and internationally. This week a settlement was reached with two French organizations: Society of Men Letters of France (SGDL) and the French Publishers' Association. Google said Monday it reached an agreement with the two parties, according to articles in Reuters...

NEW YORK, Oct. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.K. Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society, the Norwegian Nonfiction Writers and Translators Association, the Swedish Writers Union, The Writers' Union of Canada, University of Oslo professor Helge Ronning, Swedish novelist Erik Grundstrom, and American novelist J. R. Salamanca are among the new plaintiffs in an amended complaint filed today in Authors Guild v. HathiTrust. The defendant universities have pooled scans of about 7 million...

  Five American universities participating in a program to digitize books are being sued by authors in the U.S., the U.K., Canada and Australia, claiming that they have obtained unauthorized scans of millions of copyright-protected manuscripts, various media outlets reported Tuesday. Telegraph reporter Nick Allen reports that the lawsuit, which was filed in Manhattan, claims that the University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin, the University of California, Indiana University...

NEW YORK, Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Authors Guild, the Australian Society of Authors, the Union Des Ecrivaines et des Ecrivains Quebecois (UNEQ), and eight individual authors have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in federal court against HathiTrust, the University of Michigan, the University of California, the University of Wisconsin, Indiana University, and Cornell University. Plaintiff authors include children's book author and illustrator Pat Cummings, novelists Angelo...

Google Inc's plans to bring an immense library to the Internet has been dealt a major setback by a US judge on Tuesday, rejecting a settlement with authors and publishers over Google's digital book-scanning project. In a 48-page ruling given 13 months after parties stated their cases in court, US District Court Judge Denny Chin said the proposed deal "is not fair, adequate and reasonable." "While the digitization of books and the creation of a universal digital library would benefit many, the...