Internet Archive files appeal in copyright case

Internet Archive (IA) has filed an appeal following a judgement in March by a US judge that its digital book lending violates copyrights. 

Member companies of the Association of American Publishers (AAP) first filed the lawsuit against IA in June 2020 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, with the plaintiffs in "Hachette Book Group, et al vs Internet Archive" including Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Penguin Random House and Wiley.

On 24th March this year, New York Federal Court Judge John Koeltl ruled that the IA’s scanning and lending of copyright books under controlled digital lending was an infringement. He said: “At bottom, IA’s fair use defence rests on the notion that lawfully acquiring a copyrighted print book entitles the recipient to make an unauthorised copy and distribute it in place of the print book, so long as it does not simultaneously lend the print book. But no case or legal principle supports that notion. Every authority points in the other direction.”

Now the IA has appealed that decision, stating that “we believe the lower court made errors in facts and law, so we are fighting on in the face of great challenges". “We know this won’t be easy, but it’s a necessary fight if we want library collections to survive in the digital age,” a post on its website says.

Brewster Kahle, founder and digital librarian of the Internet Archive, said: “Libraries are under attack like never before. The core values and library functions of preservation and access, equal opportunity, and universal education are being threatened by book bans, budget cuts, onerous licensing schemes, and now by this harmful lawsuit. We are counting on the appellate judges to support libraries and our longstanding and widespread library practices in the digital age. Now is the time to stand up for libraries.”

In response to the appeal, Terrence Hart, general counsel of the Association of American Publishers, said: “The publisher plaintiffs and AAP community stand behind the district court’s clear opinion in this case, establishing that Internet Archive’s industrial scale format-shifting activities constitute copyright infringement, consistent with the ample other precedent that defines the clear boundaries of fair use and first sale provisions.

“There is simply no legal support for the notion that Internet Archive or a library may convert millions of e-books from print books for public distribution without the consent of, or compensation to, the authors and publishers. The plaintiff publishers will vigorously litigate the appeal of this case, which stands for foundational copyright principles. Copyright, not infringement, is the engine of creativity that serves the public interest.”