The long running saga of the Google Book Settlement seems about to get longer. It kicked off when Google's decided to scan libraries of books in order to make them available through the Internet - without asking all the authors for permission first.
Some authors didn't like this and a case started to trundle forward along expensive legal rails. As a result a settlement has been reached between Google and an American body representing the interests of authors.
The word 'settlement' might be misleading here. It is not quite settled. There was a deadline for authors to register their desire to opt out and not have their work made available online. The deadline would have passed yesterday (May 5th) but has been extended to September 4th 2009.
A 'Fairness Hearing' is due to take place on October 7th 2009. I'm no expert in these things, but advice has been put to me to hold off from doing anything (either opting out or registering my titles) for the time being.
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