[Ads-l] Internet Archive lawsuit and challenges to scholarship

Wed Feb 7 23:02:07 UTC 2024

The Internet Archive would like to permanently purchase ebooks that
are loanable. Unfortunately, major publishers do not wish to sell
ebooks; instead, major publishers desire only to offer restrictive,
expensive, and temporary licenses for ebooks.

[Begin excerpt from article by Dan Cohen in The Atlantic]
Most libraries do not even own e-books in the true sense of ownership.
The best they can do is to license e-books for a limited time, or for
a limited number of circulations, before they have to pay again.
[End excerpt from article by Dan Cohen in The Atlantic]

One of the fundamental missions of libraries is the preservation of
knowledge via the archiving of books, recordings, and other cultural
artifacts. Major publishers are preventing libraries from performing
this mission in the electronic domain by offering only temporary
licenses. This is an unprecedented and disastrous shift in the power
dynamics of the cultural economy.

Here is a link to a germane article on The Atlantic website.

Article: Libraries Need More Freedom to Distribute Digital Books But
publishers are working hard to prevent that.
Author: Dan Cohen
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/03/publishers-librarians-ebooks-hachette-v-internet-archive/673560/

On Mon, Feb 5, 2024 at 9:13 AM Grant Barrett <gbarrett at worldnewyork.org> wrote:
>
> I agree with the other commenters who use Internet Archive: it is an
> absolutely essential resource. I would happily pay for it! One wonders why
> some kind of micropayment licensing couldn't be arranged for publishers who
> desire it. GB
>
> On Sun, Feb 4, 2024 at 2:27 PM Edward Aveyard <edwardaveyard at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > I also use the Internet Archive regularly and it is excellent for finding
> > obscure sources.
> >
> > That said, I feel that they are sending good money after bad by appealing
> > this ruling, and I have said so on a blog comment. Whether we like the law
> > or not, I have yet to read any legal opinion that thinks that the Archive
> > has any chance of winning. As it would cost a lot of money to appeal and
> > lose again, I would rather that they spent the money in staying solvent in
> > doing what they are legally allowed to do. In addition, it would have been
> > nice if Internet Archive members had some sort of vote on what to do (e.g.
> > Wikimedia lets its members vote on policies). For an organisation that
> > promotes transparency, the Internet Archive is not very transparent in its
> > decision-making or on what it spends donations on.
> >
> > Ed
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> > Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Sent: 04 February 2024 14:07
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Subject: Re: Internet Archive lawsuit and challenges to scholarship
> >
> > I consult Internet Archive every single day for purposes of research on
> > various topics. It makes available material not easily accessible anywhere
> > else.
> >  Shutting it down would be a heavy blow and would make some of my work
> > nearly impossible.
> >
> > JL
> >
> >
> >
> > On Sun, Feb 4, 2024 at 6:28 AM Z S <zrice3714 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Shame on Hachette and all other plaintiffs - potential or otherwise - in
> > > this lawsuit. The Internet Archive has been a virtual godsend for those
> > of
> > > us who have accessibility challenges and are unable to easily access
> > > physical libraries. I was annoyed that the IA would only allow me to
> > access
> > > a given publication under copyright for either an hour or fourteen days.
> > > Hachette would have me not be able to access it at all??  Outrageous and
> > > disgraceful!
> > >
> > >
> > > On Sat, Feb 3, 2024 at 9:12 PM dave at wilton.net <dave at wilton.net> wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > > > I concur.
> > > >
> > > > I use the Internet Archive all the time in researching usage. It's
> > often
> > > > the only place where one can find copies (digital or print) of
> > > copyrighted
> > > > and out-of-print works, especially genre fiction, which is often
> > > > unavailable in physical libraries.(HathiTrust is a good source for full
> > > > texts of public domain texts, but does not provide access to anything
> > > still
> > > > under copyright.)
> > > >
> > > > Shutting it down would be blow.
> > > >
> > > > But the solution can only be found in a comprehensive re-envisioning of
> > > > copyright laws for the digital age. The laws simply weren't designed
> > for
> > > > 1980s-era video tape, much less digital copies or artificial
> > > intelligence.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: "ADSGarson O'Toole" <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> > > > Sent: Saturday, February 3, 2024 2:21pm
> > > > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > > > Subject: [ADS-L] Internet Archive lawsuit and challenges to scholarship
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > The Internet Archive lawsuit continues. Here is a link to a recent
> > > > blog post from the Internet Archive.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.archive.org%2F2023%2F12%2F29%2Ffriend-of-the-court-briefs-filed-in-internet-archives-appeal%2F&data=05%7C02%7C%7C16fc2ce6df10425838f008dc258abba7%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638426525009989597%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=026WXURe30zDKFV5HHp%2FJyiTX4JK3zIuAOywIXBeXLs%3D&reserved=0
> > <
> > https://blog.archive.org/2023/12/29/friend-of-the-court-briefs-filed-in-internet-archives-appeal/
> > >
> > > >
> > > > The Quote Investigator uses the electronic library operated by the
> > > > Internet Archive to locate and verify citations. If the electronic
> > > > library is shut down then this type of research will be much more
> > > > difficult. Sometimes it will be impossible.
> > > >
> > > > Shutting down the electronic library of the Internet Archive would
> > > > cause a major setback for scholarship. The electronic library uses
> > > > controlled digital lending. Major research libraries use controlled
> > > > digital lending. The library only loans one digital book when they own
> > > > one physical book. This procedure does not reduce the sales of books.
> > > >
> > > > I am sympathetic to authors and publishers. I am an author myself.
> > > > This is a controversial topic, and people disagree. Here is a webpage
> > > > about controlled digital lending.
> > > >
> > > >
> > https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcontrolleddigitallending.org%2F&data=05%7C02%7C%7C16fc2ce6df10425838f008dc258abba7%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638426525009997869%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=zqmOFZlsxNX6vYzOSVd8U9zK8rwlXHsJc%2Fhay8x262c%3D&reserved=0
> > <https://controlleddigitallending.org/>
> > > >
> > > > Garson
> > > >
> > > > ------------------------------------------------------------
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> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> >
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