Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica; Internet Archive ends “emergency library” early to appease publishers
Online library asks publishers to “call off their costly assault.”
"The Internet Archive has ended its National Emergency Library
programs two weeks earlier than originally scheduled, the organization
announced in a Wednesday blog post.
"We moved up our schedule because, last Monday, four commercial
publishers chose to sue Internet Archive during a global pandemic," the
group wrote. The online library called on publishers to "call off their
costly assault."
But that doesn't seem very likely. The Internet Archive isn't ending
its online book lending program altogether. Instead, the group is
returning to a "controlled digital lending" (CDL) model that it had
followed for almost a decade prior to March. Under that model, the group
allows only one patron to digitally "check out" a book for each
physical copy the library has in stock. If more people want to read a
book than are physically available, patrons are added to a waiting list
until someone checks the book back in...
Experts have told Ars that the CDL concept has a better chance of
winning approval from the courts than the "emergency library" idea with
unlimited downloads. But the legality of CDL is far from clear. Some
libraries have been practicing it for several years without legal
problems. But publishers and authors' rights groups have never conceded
its legality, and the issue hasn't been tested in court."
