The recognition is based on his role in crafting the Google Books Settlement. Given when it was first announced, shouldn’t he have been their person of the year for 2008?
It [is] a sad day when those who have sharply divided the community and tried to brow beat all into a solution that was clearly wanting and then returned with amendment[s] that shifted little is rewarded by the media before the deal is approved. …
What happens if the deal is not approved, does he have to hand it back? We think it a bit premature to make awards based on a race that is still not complete.
— Martyn Daniels on Brave New World
The link above does not work. I do not know if it is the same article or not, but I found this at PW: Richard Sarnoff: PW’s Publishing Person of the Year