Google is not the only party in the Google Books lawsuits who is attempting to move forward with litigation. Publishers Weekly reports that the Authors Guild is filing to request class certification in its lawsuit against Google Books.
The guild argues the class should be approved because individual claimants “could not as a practical matter effectively assert alone against Google” such claims of infringement, and that “those claims are presented far more fairly and efficiently than they would be in individual actions, which would require the same issues to be litigated multiple times.”
The Authors Guild’s filing (PDF) doesn’t say anything about the fact that it really represents a considerable minority of the authors whose works would have been appropriated by Google. Google is expected to bring this up in its response and argue for multiple classes, each with its own counsel—which would mean the Authors Guild would lose a lot of control over the suit.
Although its response to this motion isn’t due until January, Google is expected to have a few things to say about it in its motion for dismissal which is due December 23rd.
(Found via GalleyCat.)
I think that Google Books is great exposure. I don’t believe its doing anything different than providing an excerpt of the book? I believe that Amazon does the same thing.