Amazon.com's recent attempt to throw a wrench in the new Google book settlement has failed. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin rejected a Nov. 20 Amazon motion (pdf, 21 pages) to reconsider his preliminary approval of Google's revised pact with author and publisher groups.

Amazon had argued that the settlement is "doomed from the start" because it "purports to release Google and others from liability for actions they may take in the future."

Chin, in a Dec. 1 order (pdf, 3 pages), said the "many nuances" of the settlement will be considered at a fairness hearing scheduled for Feb. 18 and wrote that Amazon can submit its arguments "with the final settlement approval process."

Google and author-publisher groups revised their proposed class action settlement amid criticism from the U.S. Justice Department and others. The revised pact allows Google to distribute its vast collection of digitized books online but takes a large number of foreign works out of the mix.

Online retail giant Amazon, which is developing its own Kindle electronic book business, has consistently opposed the Google settlement, arguing among other things that it unfairly gives Google access to "orphan works" whose copyright holders cannot be found.

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