Internet Archive Responds to Piracy Charges

This week, the Internet Archive answered the copyright infringement lawsuit filed in June by four major publishers

A 28-page court document filed Tuesday answers the copyright infringement lawsuit brought in June by four major publishers – Hachette, HarperCollins, Wiley, and Simon & Schuster – and coordinated by the Association of American Publishers, reports Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly senior writer.

The AAP has labeled the Internet Archive’s program an attempt “to bludgeon the legal framework that governs copyright investments and transactions in the modern world,” and compared its efforts to the “largest known book pirate sites in the world,” Albanese tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally.

“In its July 28 filing, the Internet Archive argued that its long-running book scanning and lending program is designed to mirror the role of a traditional library in the digital age, and that it is protected by fair use,” he notes.

According to the filing, says Albanese, the Internet Archive “does what libraries have always done: buy, collect, preserve, and share our common culture. Its untested legal theory of Controlled Digital Lending (CDL) is [allegedly] a good faith and legal effort specifically designed to ‘mirror traditional library lending online.’

“Contrary to the publishers’ accusations, the filing states, the Internet Archive, and the hundreds of libraries that support CDL, are not pirates or thieves, they are librarians, striving to serve their patrons online just as they have done for centuries in the brick-and-mortar world.”

Every Friday, CCC’s “Beyond the Book” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.