Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Internet Archive forced to remove 500,000 books after publishers’ court win

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

It has been often said that if somebody tried to create a library today, publishers would stop them. This case is proof of that. The Internet Archive established a virtual library - they would buy a book, then loan it out to one person at a time (I've made use of it and on occasion have had to wait until the copy was available). During the pandemic they loaned out more copies, to make up for those copies locked in inaccessible physical libraries. Publishers sued, fearful that they weren't able to gain maximum profits from people during the worldwide crisis. This is the result of that case. " In an open letter to publishers signed by nearly 19,000 supporters, IA fans begged publishers to reconsider forcing takedowns and quickly restore access to the lost books."

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

Copyright 2024
Last Updated: Dec 12, 2024 04:54 a.m.

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