Denny Chin, the U.S. District Judge overseeing the Google Book Search Copyright Settlement, approved a 4-month extension for authors to opt out of the agreement. The Opt-Out Deadline has been extended from May 5, 2009, to September 4, 2009, and is now referred to as the Extended Opt-Out Deadline. The Final Fairness Hearing, wherein the court will decide whether or not to give the settlement final approval, has been rescheduled from June 11, 2009, to October 7, 2009.

The decision comes after a motion filed on behalf of a group of authors and their heirs including John Steinbeck, Philip K. Dick, and Arlo Guthrie. A motion letter by attorney Andrew C. DeVore explains their position:

First, two months’ time is insufficient to understand the implications of a settlement of this scope; Second, substantial defects in notice of settlement undermine authors’ ability to assess their rights; and, Third, more time is required simply to understand the complex terms of the Agreement.

Google had also been seeking an extension, but only for 60 days. Alexander Macgillivray, Google’s Associate General Counsel for Products and Intellectual Property, said that the company wanted more time to locate and notify rightsholders potentially affected by the agreement.

All other deadlines and key dates in the case remain the same.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the U.S. Department of Justice has launched an inquiry as to whether or not the proposed $125 million settlement could present antitrust issues with Google.  The concerns are that the settlement could give the company too much control over licenses to millions of books.