A judge has tentatively approved a settlement of lawsuits between Google and book authors and publishers that could put millions of out-of-print texts online, reports the Associated Press. Google and the publishing industry announced the settlement in October (see “Google settles book-scanning lawsuit”), but final court approval is still needed. Federal Judge John Sprizzo in Manhattan gave his initial approval Nov. 14. His order was put in the public record on Nov. 17. Sprizzo set a June hearing date for a final settlement and hearing to decide if the deal is fair, reasonable, and adequate. The settlement calls for Google to pay $125 million to settle two copyright lawsuits contesting its book-scanning plans. Google would get 37 percent of future revenue, and publishers and authors would share the rest…

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