The Internet Achive's Open Library has over 40 million full-text, searchable, electronic editions of books. The full-text search for all 4+ million books has just been made available. This includes not just books that have entered the public domain but also close to half a million others. Though the press release is weak on technical details, exploring the advanced search interface quickly make clear which capabilities are available.
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Publishers Sue the Internet Archive Over its Open Library, Declare it a Pirate Site
Several major publishers have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in a New York court targeting the Internet Archive's Open Library. According to the complaint, the project is a massive and willful infringement project that amounts to little more than a regular pirate site.
Back in March, the Internet Archive responded to the coronavirus pandemic by offering a new service to help "displaced learners".
Combining scanned books from three libraries, the Archive offered unlimited borrowing of more than a million books, so that people could continue to learn while in quarantine.
While the move was welcomed by those in favor of open access to education, publishers and pro-copyright groups slammed the decision, with some describing it as an attempt to bend copyright law and others declaring the project as mass-scale piracy.
Today, major publishers Hachette Book Group, Inc., HarperCollins Publishers LLC, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and Penguin Random House LLC went to war with the project by filing a copyright infringement lawsuit against the Internet Archive and five 'Doe' defendants in a New York court.
Complaint (PDF).
See also: Lawsuit over online book lending could bankrupt Internet Archive
Previously: Internet Archive's Open Library Now Supports Full-Text Searches for All 4+ Million Items
Internet Archive Suspends E-Book Lending "Waiting Lists" During U.S. National Emergency
Authors Fume as Online Library "Lends" Unlimited Free Books
University Libraries Offer Online "Lending" of Scanned In-Copyright Books
As a result of book publishers successfully suing the Internet Archive (IA) last year, the free online library that strives to keep growing online access to books recently shrank by about 500,000 titles.
IA reported in a blog post this month that publishers abruptly forcing these takedowns triggered a "devastating loss" for readers who depend on IA to access books that are otherwise impossible or difficult to access.
To restore access, IA is now appealing, hoping to reverse the prior court's decision by convincing the US Court of Appeals in the Second Circuit that IA's controlled digital lending of its physical books should be considered fair use under copyright law. An April court filing shows that IA intends to argue that the publishers have no evidence that the e-book market has been harmed by the open library's lending, and copyright law is better served by allowing IA's lending than by preventing it.
[...]
IA will have an opportunity to defend its practices when oral arguments start in its appeal on June 28."Our position is straightforward; we just want to let our library patrons borrow and read the books we own, like any other library," Freeland wrote, while arguing that the "potential repercussions of this lawsuit extend far beyond the Internet Archive" and publishers should just "let readers read."
[...]
After publishers won an injunction stopping IA's digital lending, which "limits what we can do with our digitized books," IA's help page said, the open library started shrinking. While "removed books are still available to patrons with print disabilities," everyone else has been cut off, causing many books in IA's collection to show up as "Borrow Unavailable."
[...]
In an IA blog, one independent researcher called IA a "lifeline," while others claimed academic progress was "halted" or delayed by the takedowns."I understand that publishers and authors have to make a profit, but most of the material I am trying to access is written by people who are dead and whose publishers have stopped printing the material," wrote one IA fan from Boston.
[...]
In the open letter to publishers—which Techdirt opined "will almost certainly fall on extremely deaf ears"—the Internet Archive and its fans "respectfully" asked publishers "to restore access to the books" that were removed.
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Tuesday July 17 2018, @01:54PM (6 children)
The story says over 40 million books. And it says 4+ million. Like saying I have over 10 billion dollars. And I have 1+ billion dollars. It's a very special way to talk. And it's a funny way to talk.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by FatPhil on Tuesday July 17 2018, @01:59PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 3, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday July 17 2018, @04:25PM
I visited the archive. All that electronic dust collecting on those old books gave me a sneezing fit. Think I'll stick with the newer stuff.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 4, Funny) by DannyB on Tuesday July 17 2018, @04:35PM (1 child)
You can improve the comprehensibility of your speeches by using Google to suggest the next word in a series of words. I think you will find it helpful.
Dogs are people too just like corporations my friend jeffrey dahmer said with two llamas on the loose in philadelphia that he was obsessed chasing and it was okay.
Now that we're men in tights with shorts in summer and short sleeves and a blue dress formal for mental health awareness month colors.
Spot the difference between dementia and alzheimer's society jobs of computational neuroscience conference attendees list royal wedding.
The amount of rust code in Linux has grown.
The amount of rust code in Linux has groan.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 18 2018, @03:32PM
Don't give us any more of the Trump-talk, please ...
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Tuesday July 17 2018, @05:32PM
And if anyone knows funny ways to talk....
The Musk/Trump interview appears to have been hacked, but not a DDOS hack...more like A Distributed Denial of Reality.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 17 2018, @08:40PM
And think it's a safe bet you haven't read any of them!
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 17 2018, @02:21PM (1 child)
Finally the world's largest collection of erotic fiction is searchable in full.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 18 2018, @12:51PM
Mistaking it for TPB you are