Rights Management & Royalties

The Internet Archive says it is performing a public service by making its scans of print books available to all, but critics call it an 'attack' on copyright.

After a week of intense criticism, the Internet Archive yesterday posted an FAQ in response to concerns raised by authors over its National Emergency Library. The FAQ claims the initiative has a basis in law, and reiterates that it is being undertaken in response to a national crisis.

On March 2, Judge Orinda Evans delivered her third ruling in the long-running copyright case over college course readings, and recent filings suggest the biggest issue that remains is who will pay the bills for the last 12 years of litigation.

The public release of the settlement comes after the judge gave the parties something of an ultimatum late last month: make the terms public, or move on without the court retaining jurisdiction over parts of the deal.

In a brief order this week, Judge Valerie Caproni ruled that the plaintiff publishers and Audible could redact the final amount to be paid under a settlement agreement filed earlier this month, but that other details must be made public if the parties wish the court to retain jurisdiction over the entire settlement.

“The public has a presumptive right to judicial documents,” Judge Valerie Caproni wrote in her brief order, giving the parties until February 21 to file, under seal, a copy of the settlement agreement with all proposed redactions highlighted.

Audible has agreed not to include the copyrighted works of AAP publishers in its “Captions” program without permission. Audible said it has no plan to move forward with "Captions" beyond its limited pilot with public domain works for students.

Although no details are yet available, attorneys for Audible and seven major publishers have told the court that they have resolved their issues.

In a letter to the court, Audible attorneys said the parties "have been engaged in earnest settlement discussions to address this complicated, multi-party dispute with potentially significant implications,” and asked for more time to finish an agreement.

Strong will step in while a permanent replacement is sought for Register of Copyrights Karyn Temple, who announced last week that she is leaving the Copyright Office to accept a new position at the Motion Picture Association.