THE AUTHORS GUILD, INC., Associational Plaintiff, BETTY MILES, JOSEPH GOULDEN, and JIM BOUTON, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. GOOGLE INC., Defendant-Appellant., 721 F.3d 132

Summary

The appellate court believed that resolution of the company's fair use defense in the first instance would necessarily inform and perhaps moot its analysis of many class certification issues, including those regarding the commonality of the authors' injuries, the typicality of their claims, and the predominance of common questions of law or fact. Holding the issue of class certification in abeyance until the company's fair use defense had been resolved would not prejudice the interests of either party during the projected proceedings before the district court following remand.