The longstanding Google Books litigation will continue. Judge Denny Chin rejected the proposed settlement agreement today. Read the full 48 page opinion here. (PDF Link)
The biggest stumbling block for the Library of Googlexandria? Orphan works are opt-out, instead of opt-in. Having a hard time economically tracking down people who own the rights to this book you just scanned? No worries! In an opt-out model, it’s the rightsholder who has the responsibility to track you down. (This is especially great when the rightsholder doesn’t know he holds rights in anything.)
Judge Chin pointed out that many of his concerns would be ameliorated if the settlement were made opt-in all around. Of course, I think that would ameliorate Google’s interest in the settlement. I’m attending the status update next month, so there will be more updates forthcoming.