Internet Archive Kills Its Free Digital Library Over Copyright Concerns

The Internet Archive’s National Emergency Library is finished. The non-profit repository for digital preservation, which began offering millions of e-books for free to address the closure of libraries during the pandemic, buckled under a joint lawsuit filed by major publishers including Penguin Random House and HarperCollins. From a report: Publishers said lending out books without compensation was “mass copyright infringement.” The…

Authors, Publishers Condemn the ‘National Emergency Library’ As ‘Piracy’

An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR: Last week, when the Internet Archive announced its “National Emergency Library,” expanding access to more than a million digitized works, the group explained the move as a goodwill gesture in the time of coronavirus. With so many brick-and-mortar libraries forced to close their doors, in other words, the group was opening up its…

Internet Archive’s ‘National Emergency Library’ Has Over a Million Books To Read Right Now

The Internet Archive will suspend its waiting lists for digital copies of books, as part of its National Emergency Library, the organization said. From a report: “Users will be able to borrow books from the National Emergency Library without joining a waitlist, ensuring that students will have access to assigned readings and library materials that the Internet Archive has digitized,” according…