Judge rejects Amazon request over Google Settlement

03.12.09 The Bookseller

The New York judge presiding over the Google Settlement has rejected Amazon.com's request that he withdraw preliminary approval of the revised Settlement.

In a ruling issued on Tuesday, (3rd December) judge Denny Chin said he planned to conduct a "thorough fairness analysis" of the Settlement at the Fairness Hearing on 18th February. He added that Amazon could argue its case then.

Amazon is part of the Open Book Alliance, which opposes the agreement between Google and US publishers and authors. Amazon had earlier requested that the judge reconsider granting preliminary approval of the amended settlement. In a memorandum filed with the US court on Friday (20th November), Amazon said the ruling was made "without the benefit of opposing viewpoints" from those "class members" to the deal not involved in its renegotiation and was anyway "doomed".