Canadian Writers’ Group files last-minute objection to Google settlement
February 2, 2010 | 7:16 PM | By Stuart Woods, Quill & Quire
http://www.quillandquire.com/google/article.cfm?article_id=11130
Last week marked two important milestones in the Google Book Search settlement: not only was it the opt-out deadline for authors, it was also the last chance for individuals and organizations to file objections to the settlement with the New York court overseeing the case.
The Association of Canadian Publishers and the Canadian Publishers’ Council both filed briefs in support of the settlement prior to Thursday’s deadline. However, an ad hoc writers’ group, known as Canadian Writers Against Google Settlement, called on the court to reject it. The brief was signed on behalf of some 175 Canadian writers, including Susan Crean, Heather Robertson, Monique Proulx, Russell Smith, Charlotte Gray, Judy Fong Bates, and Patrick Lane.
Prepared pro bono by University of Ottawa copyright lawyer David Fewer, the brief is the first to be filed by a group directly representing Canadian content creators. (The Writers’ Union of Canada, which represents more than 1,700 writers across the country, has not taken a firm position on the issue.) “This is a fairly strong statement by a large group of Canadian authors,” says Fewer, who is the director of the Canadian Internet Policy & Public Interest Clinic. “I would expect this to be taken fairly seriously [by the court].”
The brief is only the latest in a mounting tide of opposition to the settlement, which many are now speculating may be in jeopardy. The original settlement, which was taken off the table last October in the face of mounting global opposition, applied to publishers worldwide. A revised settlement, which will be the subject of a fairness hearing scheduled for Feb. 18, applies only to rights-holders in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Australia.
At the very least, Fewer expects the amended settlement will have to be revised again to exclude Canadian and other foreign rights-holders. “All of the reasons for why the rest of the world got excluded apply to Canadians,” he says, “and the onus is effectively on the parties in the settlement to say why Canadians should be included.”
In particular, Fewer says, the Google settlement fails to honour the Berne Convention governing international copyright and disregards the unique trade relationship between Canada and the U.S. under NAFTA. The settlement also disregards Canadian provisions for addressing orphan works, respecting moral rights, and providing privacy protection to readers online.
“There are some pretty significant distinctions between Canadian copyright law and American copyright law,” Fewer says. “It’s a very dangerous assertion to say that … we should be bound by a class-action settlement [in the U.S.]”
