NEW YORK (AP) - Paul Aiken, an executive director of the Authors Guild who served for nearly 20 years as it confronted such digital age issues as copyright, e-book royalties and online selling, has died.
His wife, Stefanie Rosenfeld, says Aiken died Friday, just short of his 57th birthday. He had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
He died at home in Manhattan with Rosenfeld and their three children at his side.
Aiken was a Chicago native and graduate of Cornell Law School. He was the Guild's executive director from 1995 to 2014, when he stepped down because of his health.
The Guild represents thousands of published authors. Aiken was its director when it sued Google in 2005 for scanning copyrighted books. Last fall, a federal circuit court ruled in Google's favor.