Judging a Digitized Book Settlement by its Cover

We've followed the brouhaha surrounding the proposed settlement of the Google digitized books class action with some interest. (A pdf of the 2005 complaint filed by the Authors Guild can be found at eff.org.)

A Washington Post editorial has good summary of the settlement here.

Earlier, this month, the William Morris Agency advised its clients to object to the proposed settlement, and a flurry of letters, rebuttals, and rebuttals of rebuttals flew between William Morris and the Authors Guild. See coverage here, here, here, and here.

It's no real surprise that literary agents, publishers, and authors have concerns about the potential effect of the settlement. The dueling correspondence between Willaim Morris and the Authors Guild focuses on protecting the rights of authors.

It's not even a surprise that the Justice Department is investigating the settlement, citing possible antitrust concerns.

To us, the surprise was the news that Microsoft, Amazon, and Yahoo plan to join the Open Book Alliance, a coalition of nonprofits, individual authors, and libraries that is forming to oppose the settlement.

Oedipus . . . Meh.

News that Microsoft dropped K&L Gates from its list of preferred law firms generated a lot of buzz today.  See, just by way of example, coverage here, here, and here.

The prevailing story line---that Bill Gates fired his father's firm---may be juicy, but it is a work of fiction.  It certainly does not, as has been claimed, sound the death knell for the importance of personal relationships between clients and their counsel.

Yes, the Gates in K&L Gates (the product of a 2007 merger between Kirkpatrick & Lockhart and Preston Gates & Ellis) is Bill Gates, Sr.  Yes, dad's firm took Microsoft public.  Twenty-three years ago.  And, yes, Microsoft dropped K&L Gates from its list of ten preferred law firms.

But this is a hardly a case of "son fires his dad."  First, Sr. retired from the firm in 1998. Second, we suspect (although we could be wrong) that someone other than Jr. decided which firms made the list of preferred providers.  Third, K&L Gates self-identifies as a firm of "1,900 lawyers on three continents" and is dwarfed by Microsoft, which has approximately 90,000 employees---not exactly a cozy family relationship.  And, fourth, Microsoft issued a statement emphasizing that it was not cutting ties with the firm.

Hey, don't let the facts get in the way of a good Greek tragedy narrative, though.

UPDATE:  An interesting contrast from cnn.com, which has a current story about those new Microsoft ads asking WWBGD? and recognizing that Gates isn't making the decisions at Microsoft these days.