The Authors Guild et al v. Google Inc.

Filing 270

NOTICE of OF FILING OF OBJECTIONS TO PROPOSED SETTLEMENT BY HACHETTE LIVRE, S.A., LIBRARIE ARTHME FAYARD, S.A., DUNOD EDITEUR, S.A., LES EDITIONS HATIER, S.N.C., EDITIONS, LAROUSSE, S.A.S., EDITORIAL SALVAT, S.L., GRUPO ANAYA, S.A., ALGAIDA EDITORES, S.A., ALIANZA EDITORIAL, S.A., EDICIONS XERAIS DE GALICIA, S.A., EDITORIAL BARCANOVA, S.A., LAROUSSE EDITORIAL, S.L., GRUPO EDITORIAL BRUO, S.L., EDELSA GRUPO DIDASCALIA, S.A., AND HACHETTE U.K. LIMITED. Document filed by Akiko Shimojyu. (Attachments: #1 Exhibit 1, #2 Exhibit 2, #3 Exhibit 3, #4 Exhibit 4, #5 Exhibit 5, #6 Exhibit 6, #7 Exhibit 7, #8 Exhibit 8, #9 Exhibit 9, #10 Exhibit 10)(Micheletto, Robert)

EXHIBIT 9

EDITORli\L SALVAT S.L.

O f f i c e o f t h e Clerk

J Michael M c M a h o n
US District C o u r t f o r t h e S o u t h e r n D i s t r i c t o f N e w York 500 Pearl Street New York, N e w York 10007 USA

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To the a t t e n t i o n o f t h e H o n o r a b l e Denny Chin

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Re:

The A u t h o r s G u i l d Inc, A s s o c i a t i o n o f A m e r i c a n Publishers, Inc. v .. Google (Case N o . OSCV 8136 JES) - O b j e c t i o n s o f SALVAT, S A t o P r o p o s e d Class S e t t l e m e n t

September 3'°, 2 0 0 9 Dear Judge Chin:

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I, Isabelle Magnac, s i g n a t o r y o f this l e t t e r , am a citizen o f France and Presidente del Consejo d e A d m i s t r a c i o n (Chairman) o f Editorial Salvat S L
Editorial Salvat S L, having its registered o f f i c e and p r i n c i p a l place o f business in Barcelona, Spain, objects t o t h e s e t t l e m e n t a g r e e m e n t proposed in t h e a b o v e - c a p t i o n e d m a t t e r (The "Proposed S e t t l e m e n t " ) Editorial Salvat S L ( " S a l v a t " ) is a Spanish p u b l i s h e r o f encyclopaedias and serial books sold at newsstands and b y m a i l o r d e r The c o m p a n y is also acting in Portugal and Latin America Editorial Salvat SL is a subsidiary o f Hachette Livre Espana, i t s e l f a subsidiary o f H a c h e t t e Livre SA SALVAT has n o t o p t e d - o u t and is t h u s a m e m b e r o f t h e Publisher Sub-Class As a European publisher, SALVAT objects t o t h e Proposed S e t t l e m e n t and s t r e n u o u s l y urges the Court t o r e j e c t i t d u e t o the significant u n f a i r and i n e q u i t a b l e e f f e c t s t h a t i t w i l l have on all non1 US A u t h o r s and Publishers The Proposed S e t t l e m e n t is p u r e l y and s i m p l y unacceptable f r o m t h e p o i n t o f v i e w o f a European p u b l i s h e r
As a European p u b l i s h e r , SALVAT has t e n m a t e r i a l o b j e c t i o n s t o t h e Proposed S e t t l e m e n t None o f these o b j e c t i o n s concern t h e proposed i n d e m n i f i c a t i o n ( e x t r e m e l y marginal, on a p e r - b o o k 2 basis) f o r t h e i n j u r i caused b y Google f o r past u n a u t h o r i z e d d i g i t a l copying o f s o me t e n m i l l i o n

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: In this letter, capitalized terms deriving f r o m the Proposed Settlement shall have the same meaning as t h a t used in the Proposed Settlement Copying was perhaps facilitated and agreed t o by libraries b u t unauthorized by copyright I derecho de outores holders Thus, copying by Google was legally unauthorized

basis) for the i n j u r y caused b y Google for past unauthorized digital c o p y i n g ' o f some ten m i l l i o n works in p r i n t J , o f w h i c h a p p r o x i m a t e l y half have been generally estimated (including by Google Itself in various pubtic declarations) t o be works published in languages o t h e r t h a n English 7. The bulk o f t h e 134-page S e t t l e m e n t A.greement (334 pages w i t h t h e appendices) is directed to establishing a c o m p l e x c o m m e r c i a l a r r a n g e m e n t , p o t e n t i a i l y a f f e c t i n g m i l l i o n s o f c o p y r i g h t e d works and the owners o f the i n t e l l e c t u a l l y p r o p e r t y rights in those works on a w o r l d w i d e scale Among o t h e r things, the S e t t l e m e n t /-\greement orovides f o r t h e establishment ilnd ( h a r t e r o f t h e "Book Right Registry" (Article VI), outlines the role o f Google's l i b r a r y partners in the commercial v e n t u r e (Article VII), addresses security issues related t o t h e commercial venture (Article VIII), adopts a p r o t o c o l f o r the resolution o f disputes arising b e t w e e n parties t o the commercial a r r a n g e me n t (Article IX), and sets o u t the economic terms f o r Google's use o f class member's i n t e l l e c t u a l p r o p e r t y (Article IV) Several " A t t a c h m e n t s " t o t h e S e t t l e m e n t Agreement p r o v i d e a d d i t i o n a l d e t a i l s r e l e v a n t t o t h e proposed c o m m e r c i a l a r r a n g e m e n t , i n c l u d i n g A t t a c h m e n t A ("Procedures Governing A u t h o r Sub-Class and Publisher Sub-Class Under the Settlement A g r e e m e n t " ) As a European publisher, SALVAT is obliged t o object t o many o f these provisions o f the Proposed S e t t l e m e n t w i t h the u t m o s t conviction Indeed, as a European publisher, SALVAT objects t o t h e Proposed S e t t l e m e n t in t h a t i t would be a p r e d o m i n a n t l y commercial transaction having a w o r l d w i d e scope The " c o n t r a c t " underlying the commercial t r a n s a c t i o n is n o t being d e t e r m i n e d t h r o u g h m a r k e t forces b u t through US laws and the US judicial system, t o the exclusion o f all o t h e r laws and judicial systems t h r o u g h o u t t h e w o r l d Such commercial transaction w o u l d result in a sweeping t r a n s f e r o f rights f r o m c u r r e n t rights owners w o r l d w i d e t o Google As p a r t o f this t r a n s f e r o f rights t o Google, t h e Proposed S e t t l e m e n t w o u l d preclude class members f r o m suing Google and i t s partners f o r t h e array o f uses o f a u t h o r s ' works p e r m i t t e d by t h e Proposed Agreement, t h e r e b y releasing Google and others f r o m l i a b i l i t y f o r future conduct which w o u l d o t h e r w i s e c o n s t i t u t e copyright / derecho de outor i n f r i n g e m e n t This part o f the Proposed S e t t l e m e n t is f u n d a m e n t a l l y a commercial transaction having unprecedented effects on Authors and Publishers w o r l d w i d e which t h e settling parties are i m p r o p e r l y a t t e m p t i n g t o impose t h r o u g h t h e judicial process and the procedural device o f class actions as set forth in Rule 23 o f the Federal Rules o f Civil Procedure, rather than t h r o u g h t h e normal commercial process o f n e g o t i a t i o n and i n f o r m e d consent As stated above, SAL VAT's objections t o t h e Proposed S e t t l e m e n t derive exclusively f r o m t h e illegal, u n f a i r and i n e q u i t a b l e effects t h a t said Proposed S e t t l e m e n t w i l l have on i t as a European publisher An American publisher w o u l d n o t be concerned by t h e objections o f SALVAT Indeed, one o f t h e striking features o f the Proposed S e t t l e m e n t is t h a t i t is predicated on the i m p l i c i t premise t h a t , since i t is a US-negotiated s e t t l e m e n t b e t w e e n US-based p l a i n t i f f s and a US based company, t h a t t h e Class i t s e l f is a US-class only As shown b e l o w , this is far f r o m t h e t r u t h All Authors and Publishers w o r l d w i d e are p o t e n t i a l l y members o f t h e Class.

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Copying was perhaps facilitated and agreed to by libraries but unauthorized by copyright / derecho de autores holders Thus, copying by Google was legally unauthorized Cf Information Week, Google Readies Its Book Business, (July 30. 2009) ("To dale Google has scanned over 10 million books, including 1 5 million public domain books"); Google 2008 Annual Report ("Today, we are able to search the full text of almost 10 million books")
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