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Freeman [soylentnews.org] writes:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/09/most-notorious-illegal-shadow-library-sued-by-textbook-publishers/ [arstechnica.com]

Yesterday, some of the biggest textbook publishers sued [arstechnica.net] Library Genesis, an illegal shadow library that publishers are accusing of "extensive violations of federal copyright law."

Publishers suing include Cengage Learning, Macmillan Learning, McGraw Hill, and Pearson Education. They claim that Library Genesis (aka Libgen) is operated by unknown individuals based outside the United States, who know that the shadow library is "one of the largest, most notorious, and far-reaching infringement operations in the world" and intentionally violate copyright laws with "absolutely no legal justification for what they do."
[...]
Publishers hope their lawsuit will finally end years of Libgen's alleged mass copyright infringement, but shadow libraries like Libgen have proven resilient through multiple attacks from the highest levels of US law enforcement. Even when the US government arrested operators of another shadow library called Z-Library [arstechnica.com] last year, Z-Library returned [arstechnica.com] a few months later and found a way to continue operating after the US seized its login domain [arstechnica.com].

Ars could not immediately reach publishers' lawyers or Libgen for comment. [Update: Publishers' lawyer Matthew Oppenheim told Ars that Libgen is a "thieves' den" of illegal books, and "there is no question" that Libgen's conduct is "massively illegal." Oppenheim said that "really, the only question is why it's been allowed to exist this long." He also said that it's possible that US companies may not realize that they are aiding Libgen's infringement, but publishers hope that when they "are confronted" with the fact "that this library is massively illegal, that hopefully they will voluntarily do the right thing" and cut off Libgen.]

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