The free online library, which strives to continually increase online access to books, was recently reduced by about 500,000 volumes after book publishers successfully sued the Internet Archive (IA) last year.
IA reported in a blog post this month that the publisher's sudden decision to force the takedown has resulted in a “tremendous loss” to readers who rely on IA to access inaccessible or inaccessible books.
To restore access, IA is currently appealing, hoping to overturn the previous court's decision by persuading the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that digital lending of physical books it controls should be considered fair use under copyright law. An April court filing shows IA intends to argue that publishers have no evidence that the e-book market has been harmed by lending from public libraries and that copyright law is better at allowing IA's lending than preventing it. .
“We use industry-standard techniques to prevent books from being downloaded or redistributed – the same techniques corporate publishers use,” Chris Freeland, IA's director of library services, wrote in a blog post. “But the publishers who sued our libraries say we shouldn't be lending books we own. They forced us to remove over half a million books from our libraries, and that's why we're appealing.”
IA will have a chance to defend its practice when oral arguments begin on the appeal on June 28.
“Our position is simple: We want to ensure that our library patrons, like other libraries, can borrow and read the books we own,” Freeland wrote. “The potential impact of this lawsuit extends far beyond the Internet Archive. “It goes beyond that,” he claimed. You just have to “let readers read.”
“This is a fight for the preservation of every library and the fundamental right to access information, a cornerstone of every democratic society,” Freeland wrote. “We believe that authors have the right to profit from their works, and that libraries should be allowed to fulfill their mission of providing access to knowledge, whether in physical or digital form. Doing so requires knowledge. “It supports the principle that everyone should have equal and equitable access, regardless of where they live or study.”
Internet Archive fans beg the publisher to stop taking it down.
Open libraries have begun to shrink, with IA's help page saying the publisher “limits what we can do with digitized books” after it won an injunction blocking IA's digital lending. “Customers with print disabilities will still be able to use the books that have been removed,” but all other books will be blocked, meaning many books in the IA collection will be marked as “unavailable for loan.”
Since then, IA has been “inundated” with inquiries from readers around the world searching for the removed books, Freeland said. And “every day we get tagged on social media by people asking, ‘Why are so many books missing from my library?’” Freeland told Ars.
In an open letter to the publisher signed by nearly 19,000 supporters, IA fans implored the publisher to reconsider the enforced takedown and quickly restore access to the lost books.
Among the “far-reaching impacts” of the takedown, IA fans singled out the negative educational impact of scholars, students, and educators (particularly underserved communities with limited access) suddenly being cut off from “supporting research materials and literature.” their learning and academic growth.”
They also claimed the takedown dealt a “serious blow to low-income families, people with disabilities, rural communities and LGBTQ+ people” who may not be able to access their local library or feel safe accessing information. “I need it publicly.”
“Removing these books not only hinders academic progress and innovation, it also jeopardizes the preservation of our cultural and historical knowledge,” the letter reads.
“This is not something that happens in the abstract,” Freeland told Ars. “This is reality: People no longer have access to half a million books.”