Individual authors drop away from suit

Google is continuing to fight the Authors Guild in a lawsuit aimed at Google Books. After asking the court to remove the Authors Guild from the case, the search giant has submitted another filing that argues against class certification that is necessary to push the case forward as a class action suit on behalf of all copyright owners.

"Google turns fairness on its head when it argues that every individual copyright owner must sue here, rather than the Authors Guild on behalf of its 8,500 members," the Guild said in a recent filing.

Google argues that many authors have vastly different views of the service. The company points to the settlement approval process as evidence.

"New survey evidence shows that many authors directly benefit from the program, and affirmatively approve of the way in which Google has made books easier to find," attorneys wrote.

Eliminating the Authors Guild from the case, or preventing it from proceeding as a class action lawsuit, would force individual authors to pursue the company in court. The involved parties already worked out a settlement agreement, however it was rejected by the judge overseeing the case.

The court has yet to respond to the latest filings. [via Paid Content]

By Electronista Staff