A US judge has ruled against the Internet Archive in a lawsuit brought by four book publishers, determining that the website failed to secure authorisation from copyright holders before lending out books digitally. The publishers sued the organisation over its decision to launch the National Emergency Library programme, a move that enabled individuals to access 1.4 million digitised books without needing to join a waitlist. Prior to the move, the Internet Archive had operated a controlled digital lending model. Judge John G Koeltl dismissed arguments by the defendant that its activities constituted Fair Use, which protects certain types of reuse, stating that there was “nothing transformative” about the group’s approach, and that it did not provide “criticism, commentary or information” about the books concerned. The Internet Archive plans to appeal the verdict.
Internet Archive loses first fight to lend e-books like a library, facing copyright infringement claims.
