A New York federal district court rejected a proposed class action settlement that would have created an unprecedented mechanism allowing Google to provide digital access to tens of millions of copyrighted books and other writings. In The Authors Guild v. Google Inc., 2011 WL 986049 (SDNY March 22, 2011), Second Circuit Judge Denny Chin, sitting by designation in a case assigned to him during his district court service, held that the proposed settlement agreement, the result of years of negotiation, would improperly allow a private agreement to govern an area that has long been reserved for congressional regulation.

While recognizing the large potential benefits of the proposal—including vastly increased access for libraries, schools and disadvantaged populations—the court agreed with amicus curiae, the United States, that the settlement “is an attempt to use the class action mechanism to implement forward-looking business arrangements that go far beyond” the dispute pending before the court.

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