For immediate release:
February 16, 2010

For more information, contact:
Brandon Butler
Association of Research Libraries
202-296-2296
brandon@arl.org

ARL Releases Summary of Second Round Comments in Google Book Search Settlement

Washington DC—Late last year, Google, the Author’s Guild, the American Association of Publishers, and the individual plaintiffs in the lawsuit over Google’s massive book digitization program negotiated several revisions to their original Proposed Settlement Agreement (original agreement). The revisions were designed to address concerns raised by the Department of Justice and other critics who advised the court to reject the original agreement.

In response to the US Department of Justice’s second filing in regard to the Proposed Settlement Agreement, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has released a summary that describes the second round comments, including the main themes and trends that emerged. The court will hold its final fairness hearing in New York on February 18, 2010. Judge Denny Chin will hear from 26 interested parties at the hearing, the majority of whom are opposed to the settlement.

The summary is available on the ARL Web site at http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/gbs-pasa-summary.pdf.

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 124 research libraries in North America. Its mission is to influence the changing environment of scholarly communication and the public policies that affect research libraries and the diverse communities they serve. ARL pursues this mission by advancing the goals of its member research libraries, providing leadership in public and information policy to the scholarly and higher education communities, fostering the exchange of ideas and expertise, facilitating the emergence of new roles for research libraries, and shaping a future environment that leverages its interests with those of allied organizations. ARL is on the Web at http://www.arl.org/.