Google Book Project Tries to Placate the Critics: Will It Be Enough?
On November 19, 2009, the district court gave tentative approval to the settlement and set February 18, 2010 as the date of a final fairness hearing. Even if, as expected, the district court approves the settlement, several questions remain.
Will the Copyright Office and the DOJ continue to try to alter the settlement terms? The Copyright Office has long advocated a legislative solution to the problem of orphan works, and thus appears likely to continue to object to the judiciary’s perceived usurpation of functions properly carried out by the legislative and executive branches. The DOJ may be more reluctant to remain critical, since many of the antitrust issues have been blunted, as well as some of the treaty-based objections relating to foreign authors and publishers.