Photographers Are Not Authors, Says Judge in Google Book Case

The latest twist in the ongoing settlement talks between Google (GOOG) and book authors is that Wednesday, the judge in the case denied an attempt by photographers to become part of the settlement. In the decision (embedded below), Judge Denny Chin basically ruled that photographers are not authors, and that the settlement only covers “word-based material,” with the exception of illustrations in children’s books.

The motion to join the suit was brought by the American Society of Media Photographers, the Graphic Artists Guild, the Picture Archive Council of America, the North American Nature Photographers Association, and several individual photographers. The current settlement is between Google and the Author’s Guild.

The judge writes that the motion was filed to late, and that in any case, the current settlement does not preclude photographers from bringing their own lawsuit.

Obviously, many books include photographs and illustrations. If a book is scanned into Google’s searchable database with a copyrighted image, it appears that Google might still be liable for displaying those images. At least that is what judge Chin suggests when he writes that the settlement does not copyright holders of “pictorial materials and binds them in no way.” I’ve asked Google for clarification on how it intends to deal with such issues.

Photo credit: Flickr/Mike Baird

ASMP Denied

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Comments

[web20lawyer:]

A well reasoned opinion. In this case, the judge took offense to the "pictorial works" lawyers intervening nearly 4 years after the start of litigation. This online copyright case was first instituted in 2005-6. Since then it has been in the media extensively. The original settlement proposal was filed in 2008. For these lawyers to claim a right to intervene and delay the current settlement talk is absurd. While i agree that this lawsuit should have included both textual and pictorial works, the lawyers should have asked to participate sometime in the past 3 years. Now their action are less about protecting their clients and more about scuttling the settlement. by Internet Copyright Lawyer -- www.web20lawyer.com/pa...

Nov 05 12:31 PM

[TinyTim:]

No good deed goes unpunished (twice)

Nov 06 11:13 AM