Plaintiffs in the Google Book Search settlement filed a motion and a memo a few days ago to ask for a delay in the Fairness Hearing that would determine whether or not the $125 million settlement is approved. The Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers, and others that brought the class action suit against Google want more time to work out terms of the settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice. Google did not object to the idea.

Judge Denny Chin of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York agreed to the request, pushing back the original October 7 hearing to an as yet undetermined date. In a letter sent to both parties, Chin wrote, “Under all the circumstances, it makes no sense to conduct a hearing on the fairness and reasonableness of the current settlement agreement, as it does not appear that the current settlement will be the operative one.”

In a filing last week, The Department of Justice expressed objections to the settlement. The DOJ maintains concerns that the settlement might violate antitrust laws.

According to CNET:

It’s [...] not clear what types of modifications to the deal are being discussed. The DOJ’s main objection to the deal was that “the Proposed Settlement seeks to implement a forward-looking business arrangement rather than a settlement of past conduct,” which is not what class-action suits are designed to do, it said in a filing with the court last Friday. It is also concerned about potential violations of antitrust law[…]

The settlement, which has now stretched on for over four years, has been the subject of much controversy in recent months. The Open Book Alliance, an organization that has been one of the more vocal critics, called the delay a “huge victory” in a blog post on its site.

Both parties in the case have asked for a “status conference” on November 6 to discuss progress on the settlement.