Re: ALA, ARL, ACRL To File Amicus Brief in Google Book Search Settlement

[Sandy Thatcher <sgt3@psu.edu>]

I'm not a lawyer, but I thought an amicus brief could only be 
filed in a case that is being contested, and usually at the 
appeals court level, rather than the district court, where the 
Google Settlement remains. Not being contested--since it is an 
agreement between all the parties in the case--what sense does it 
make to file an amicus? As noted in the story, only those who 
belong to the classes involved in the case can file an objection 
to the Settlement, and libraries are not part of the class.  I 
and other publishers certainly welcome comments from the library 
community, many of which have already been aired, but would 
someone explain to me how an amicus brief works in this instance? 
Doesn't an amicus, by definition, have to be an amicus of one of 
the contesting parties? There are none such in a Settlement!

Sandy Thatcher
Penn State University Press


> >From Library Journal's Academic Newswire:
>
>"The American Library Association (ALA), the Association of
>Research Libraries (ARL), and the Association of College and
>Research Libraries (ACRL) said this week they will file an amicus
>brief pertaining to the pending Google Book Search settlement."
>
>http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6640461.html
>
>Bernie Sloan
>Sora Associates
>Bloomington, IN