A Federal Court Fairness Hearing (originally scheduled for June 11) has been rescheduled for Oct 7, 2009, and book rights holders have until Sep 4, 2009 (the Extended Opt-Out Deadline) to decide whether to participate in the settlement or opt out. If you think you might be affected by this settlement deal you need to gather information now and may need to take steps to protect your copyrights.

On March 13 many ASPP members attended a day–long meeting and discussion (organized in part by Nancy Wolff and her firm Cowan etc...) about the Google Book Settlement. Video of that conference is now available online.

This long running class action suit between Google, the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers was settled amicably earlier this year, but many unanswered questions were raised during this day-long event. Because the settlement is between Google and the Author's Guild (who brought the suit), photographs are not included. However, the deal establishes new working models for licensing in the publishing industry and these will inevitably spill over into fields that affect all ASPP members.

The complete settlement agreement and lots more information is available at: http://www.googlebooksettlement.com.

On April 1 2009 the APA issued an alert to its members with a wealth of pertinent material. In an April letter to PACA members, Maria Kessler wrote about the March 13th meeting and the implications of the settlement.

Recently, several groups including the American Library Association have initiated new actions, and the Department of Justice has started an inquiry into the anti-trust implications of the settlement. Stay tuned.