After more than seven years, there is still no end in sight for the Google Books copyright case. Last week, the judge handling the lower-court case granted Google's request for a stay, meaning that the trial will be delayed. 

In May, judge Denny Chin granted the case class-action, meaning that The Authors Guild and other associations of authors and photographers could sue Google as a group. This way, members of The Authors Guild were not forced to sue Google individually, thereby risking different rulings and exponentially higher costs. Google appealed and is still waiting for a final decision on the class-action status. 

Meanwhile, the lower-court case continues. According to Google, it is likely that the lower court will rule on the principal merits in the case before the Court of Appeals has ruled on the class-action status. Therefore, the company requested a stay. The Authors Guild did not file any opposition against the request.

Read more about the Google Books case on FutureOfCopyright.com:

• Update on Google Books case
• Authors sue Google Books for copyright infringement in class action lawsuit

Source: Bloomberg