Publishers Sue the Internet Archive

Reading was always considered important in the home I grew up in.

I could come home with a low mark on my report card and there would be a push to do better. But anything less than an A in reading, was to attract a focused push to get that grade up.

Going to the library was a regular ritual as I grew up. We were never without books to read, a habit I’ve carried into my adult life.

For me, the web is like a candy store when it comes to finding information. But, reading a book is still important.

Internet Archive

In the last couple of years I’ve on occasion visited the Internet Archive site. It is a free site to visit and use, a non-profit library, a California state library and a leading institution for digital preservation.

You’ll find the Wayback Machine that lets you find content that is no longer resident on the web.

Controlled Digital Lending

The Archive is part of a system that lends out ebooks using Controlled Digital Lending (CDL). It’s a framework for libraries to own and lend ebooks withing copyright laws.

It works something like this:

• library scans a book they already own in their collection
• the paper book is taken out of circulation so the library still only has one copy
• the digital copy is loaned to one patron at a time as if it was a paper book.
• the system controls the loan so the patron can only read, not download and at the end of the loan period returns it to the collection.

I’ve used this myself a few times to read books for research. In most instances I have 14 days of access to the book and choose to return it at any time. At the end of the period, I can renew it if no one else is waiting for it.

National Emergency Library, Publishers Sue

When the pandemic hit the Archive created The National Emergency Library as a way to help provide access to books for children learning at home while libraries were closed.

Instead of the books only able to go out to one person at a time, multiple loans were made.

They opened the Emergency Library in March 2020. In short order the five largest publishers: Penquin Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins and Wiley filed a lawsuit alleging ‘mass copyright infringement’.

The Internet Archive closed the Emergency Library on June 1st and asked the publishers to drop their lawsuit.

They were having no part of doing so, they want the Open Library closed permanently.

The Framework’s Legal Standing

The CDL is a framework agreement worked out by the Library Futures Foundation in consultation with the Intellectual Property and Information Policy Clinic.

The core goal is to provide access to materials for the public good within copyright rules. Over 100 libraries in Canada and the US are using the CDL to expand their ability to serve their clients.

By removing the source book from circulation of any type and only lending the e-copy out to one patron at a time, the process becomes the same as lending the paper copy except the patron doesn’t have to physically pick it up.

Within the Copyright Act libraries are given exemptions to loan out the books they purchase or acquire.

It’s the principle upon which public libraries have operated since the first one was open in the mid 15th century in Europe.

So Why the Lawsuit?

The publishers currently have a system where they licence ebooks to libraries. A licence that needs to be renewed repeatedly for the library to hold the book in their collection.

They have to pay for the same ebook repeatedly.

The publishers suit claims the act of the Internet Archive scanning a book they legally own is illegal. If they can convince the court of this notion, then they will have legal precedent to shift their business model from selling books to licencing books.

This would effectively bring books into the world of subscription models we currently see many apps doing.

You wouldn’t own ebooks, you’d have a subscription and would have to pay for the book over and over again in order to keep the book.

While they wouldn’t be able to implement this with paper books owned by individuals, they certainly could enforce it with libraries and schools.

It’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out in the courts.

SOURCES:

• header image from pixabay.com
• https://www.libraryfutures.net/post/controlled-digital-lending-unlocking-the-librarys-full-potential
• https://www.thenation.com/article/society/publishers-are-taking-the-internet-to-court/
• https://popula.com/2022/01/22/what-kind-of-writer-accuses-libraries-of-stealing/

Shadowspub is a writer from Ontario, Canada. She writes on a variety of subjects as she pursues her passion for learning. She also writes on other platforms and enjoys creating books you use like journals, notebooks, coloring books etc.

She created Prompt A Day to share with others. You can subscribe to Prompt A Day to get started.