The judge overseeing the Google Books settlement has ruled that photographers and other visual artists may not join the suit as members of the plaintiff class due, in large part, to the fact that they filed too late.

The group, which includes the American Society of Media Photographers, the Graphic Artists Guild, the Picture Archive Council of America, the North American Nature Photographers Association, should have introduced their "motion to intervene" earlier, not when the suit is on the verge of being resolved, Judge Denny Chin said.

"The movants' request to intervene is untimely and the parties would be prejudiced if the movants were allowed to intervene now," Chin wrote. The case has been going on since 2005.

The decision also called attention to the implications if the artists were allowed to get involved now, when the parties are on the verge of nailing down the settlement.

"The parties to this litigation have been negotiating and renegotiating a complicated settlement agreement for several years," Chin wrote. "In the last two months, the parties have begun working with the Department of Justice to revise the agreement to attempt to avoid antitrust problems, and they are due to re-file their new settlement proposal on November 9, 2009.

"The proposed settlement... represents thousands of hours of discussion, compromise, and legal draftsmanship. Yet, the movants propose to intrude at the very end of this long process, and to add the question of millions of pictorial materials to the equation.

"Intervention could 'destroy [the parties'] settlement and send [] them bck to the drawing board,'" Chin wrote, citing a precendent.

Chin said that if the artists want to pursue grievances against Google, they can file their own suit.