FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CANADIANS FILE ANTI-GOOGLE OBJECTION
February 1, 2010 – They’re angry, and they’re putting their well-chosen words into action. Represented by eminent copyright lawyer David Fewer, Director of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic at the University of Ottawa, a group of Canadian writers has filed a comprehensive legal objection to the Google Books Settlement with a US court in New York. The Canadian objection joins scores of others filed by three US writers’ organizations, other interested public policy groups, and individuals. The court will decide the settlement’s fate on February 18.
The objection grows out of a petition launched on New Year’s Day, in which the writers’ group called the settlement “an assault on international copyright law” and “theft of a cultural heritage.” To date, the petition has accumulated over 500 signatures from Canadian authors outraged at Google’s attempt to foist a meaningless settlement on them after digitizing their work for commercial use without permission. One of the writers behind the petition is Katherine Gordon, a former contracts lawyer. She notes, “The legal flaws in this appalling deal are so obvious even the U.S. Department of Justice has expressed its objections to it. We think we have every chance of success in having the settlement rejected.”
The legal brief, prepared by Fewer after discussions with the lead authors, cites concerns ranging from NAFTA and the Berne Convention on copyright, to the special status of Quebec and French language writers. The objection concludes: “These public policy choices should not be left to private litigants, nor should they be foisted on authors. Such far-reaching changes should be taken up by domestic legislatures, debated between the users and authors whose legal rights will be affected, and implemented with the legitimacy that comes only from democratic decision-making.”
For the full objection brief, go to my blog post: CWAG files Letter of Objection
