Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

SoylentNews is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop. Only 9 submissions in the queue.
posted by Fnord666 on Saturday June 13 2020, @02:16PM   Printer-friendly
from the never-let-them-see-fear dept.

Internet Archive ends "emergency library" early to appease publishers:

The Internet Archive has ended its National Emergency Library programs two weeks earlier than originally scheduled, the organization announced in a Wednesday blog post.

"We moved up our schedule because, last Monday, four commercial publishers chose to sue Internet Archive during a global pandemic," the group wrote. The online library called on publishers to "call off their costly assault."

[...] If the publishers dropped their lawsuit now, they would be tacitly conceding the legality of CDL[1] and potentially endangering the revenues they currently earn from licensing e-books to libraries for digital checkout. Also, the Internet Archive's decision to stop its emergency lending now is unlikely to protect it from liability for lending it has done over the last three months.

A win for the publishers could easily bankrupt the Internet Archive. Copyright law allows statutory damages for willful infringement to go as high as $150,000 per work, and the Internet Archive has scanned 1.4 million works and offered them for online download. So the Internet Archive could easily face damages in the billions of dollars if it loses the lawsuit. That's far beyond the group's ability to pay.

[1] CDL - controlled digital lending - One electronic loan per physical copy in the library.

Previously:
Publishers Sue the Internet Archive Over its Open Library, Declare it a Pirate Site
Authors Fume as Online Library "Lends" Unlimited Free Books
Internet Archive Suspends E-Book Lending "Waiting Lists" During U.S. National Emergency


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2020, @03:00PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2020, @03:00PM (#1007448)

    How many readers were underprivileged blacks who couldn't afford to purchase books from the oppressive white-owned publishing houses with their intellectual "property" monopolies? This subjugation must stop... #EliminateCopyright #EverythingForEveryoneForFree

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   -1  
       Flamebait=1, Troll=1, Interesting=1, Total=3
    Extra 'Troll' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   -1  
  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday June 13 2020, @03:09PM (1 child)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Saturday June 13 2020, @03:09PM (#1007452) Journal

    Copyright already had its skull bashed in by the internet. Copyright law is merely performative now.

    1337x.to/sort-search/New%20York%20Times%20Best/time/desc/1/

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    • (Score: 3, Touché) by fustakrakich on Saturday June 13 2020, @03:54PM

      by fustakrakich (6150) on Saturday June 13 2020, @03:54PM (#1007463) Journal

      Copyright law is merely performative now.

      It provides pretext to knock your door down and steal your computer whenever their dogs get hungry

      --
      La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..