The parties returned to Judge Denny Chin’s Manhattan courtroom yesterday for motions in the Google Books Case. The search engine giant sought to remove the Authors Guild as an associational plaintiff, even as the Guild pushed for its own motion to certify the class of authors. And what about the publishers? Well, they were elsewhere, keeping busy with the burgeoning e-book market.
“From the questions he asked from the bench, it certainly seems like Judge Denny Chin wants to see the Authors Guild lawsuit against Google and its library book-scanning program proceed as a class action, and the Authors Guild has a strong argument for pursuing their claim,” Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly’s Features Editor, tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally.
Google, however, firmly pushed back, with attorney Daralyn Durie highlighting findings of a $100,000 survey of authors that Google commissioned.
“Despite the AG’s claim of harm to the class,” Albanese explains, “about 45% of 880 author respondents think Google Books is beneficial to them, and only 19% think it harms them.”
In his review of the coming week’s reviews, Mike Harvkey, PW’s Deputy Reviews Editor, notes the timing is right for Fifty Sides of the Beach Boys: The Songs That Tell Their Story. This summer, the legendary California band goes on the road for their 50th Anniversary Tour. Harvkey says the PW reviewer finds the book by Toronto-based journalist Mark Dillon, “well-written and relevant to today’s music scene.”
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Every Friday, CCC’s “Beyond the Book” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.