In a recent interview with Copyright Clearance Center, Allan Adler, Vice President for Legal and Governmental Affairs for the Association of American Publishers (AAP) says the U.S. Department of Justice’s inquiry into the Google Books settlement agreement was not surprising since the settlement “is unprecedented in scope and nature”.

He explains that in addition to resolving pending litigation between Google and the AAP and the Authors Guild, the settlement was “designed deliberately to establish and create a going forward model for authors, publishers and other rightsholders to work with one of the giants of the online world.”

Adler also says the establishment of a Book Rights Registry (BRR) will play an important role in reducing the number of orphan works that exist.

The deadline for copyright holders affected by the settlement to decide whether to participate, to opt out, or to object is September 4.

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In a recent interview with Copyright Clearance Center, publishing and copyright attorney Lois Wasoff provided an update on the latest developments in the historic and potentially game-changing proposed Google Book settlement.

Wasoff advised copyright holders of changes in two important court deadlines. “The deadline for deciding whether to opt into the settlement, or to opt out, or object, has been extended to September 4^th.” The fairness hearing, in which the judge reviews objections, notification procedures and settlement terms, has been rescheduled to October 7^th.

Wasoff also discussed the ongoing U.S. Department of Justice inquiry into the settlement and how the DOJ’s actions could impact the court’s review and approval of the proposed settlement agreement.

In recent weeks, arguments for and against the settlement have heated up from groups representing rightsholders and content users.

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