Here’s how to participate in Monday’s oral arguments

We’re standing up for the digital rights of all libraries in court! On Monday at 1pm ET, the Southern District of New York will hear oral argument in Hachette v. Internet Archive, the lawsuit against our library and the longstanding library practice of controlled digital lending, brought by 4 of the world’s largest publishers. 

Here’s how you can participate in the proceedings:

  1. At 1pm ET, listen to the oral argument. This hearing is happening via telephone. You can join via 1-888-363-4749, with access code 8140049.
  2. During the proceedings, watch the live blog hosted by Library Futures: https://controlleddigitallending.org/2023/03/20/hachette-v-ia-liveblog/ While oral arguments are happening, library and copyright experts Michelle Wu, Kyle K. Courtney, and Dave Hansen will be providing running commentary on the proceedings.
  3. Immediately after the proceedings, join a live discussion with Michelle Wu, Kyle K. Courtney, and Dave Hansen. Register at https://forms.gle/ATuwmiNDNPUBovZm9 

Stand with the Internet Archive online:

The internet advocacy group Fight for the Future has launched the Battle for Libraries, an online rally in support of the Internet Archive and digital lending. Visit the action hub to engage with other supporters & share messages with your followers across social media to spread awareness about our fight: https://www.battleforlibraries.com

349 thoughts on “Here’s how to participate in Monday’s oral arguments

      1. ST

        There are books on here that you can’t find anywhere else. This is a site for introverts like me who like to read books from the comfort of my home. My family also love Internet archive it’s our online library. Some like to go to the public library but my anxiety gets really bad when I have to go and I know other friends that have found this website to be helpful also. We can get books read to us in the comfort of our homes. Internet Archive have helped us get through covid it has significantly helped me mentally it would hurt so much if this website goes and don’t get the digital rights.

        1. Marty (Costa Mesa)

          I agree! I just believe that internet archive (which I’ve contributed about 1,000 items in just over two years) is online for the next 50 years! But I don’t know if all of those will apply. I’ll be 63 on Thursday, March 23. Everyone can look at what I did anytime!

        2. Joanna RG

          100% YES! I support internet archive. It’s an awesome place where you can borrow any book available *for free*.. You can’t really find that anywhere else.. I really hope you get those rights.

          1. Nanjing University

            I can’t imagine the academic life without Internet Archive. It indeed has helped me a lot. Besides, there’s no reason to prevent people who are eager for knowledge from the access to knowledge.

        3. Priyansh Suthar

          Yes I definitely agree. For a student like me, Internet Archive is a constant companion.

        4. Highest (All Rights Reserved)

          In totally support of Internet Archive Digital Library
          (WITHOUT PREJUDICE UCC 1-308)

      2. Jamiul Alam

        Internet archiver is my best friend right now.It helps me more than any of my friend no doubt. I wish all the best for internet archiver.

      3. jatta Shankar

        Hello sir,
        I’m jatta Shankar from india and i am highly dependent for the book and materials on your website.
        By the way education is base of development of humanity then why to fight for this.

        WE WANT INTERNET ARCHIVE

        FULLY SUPPORT

        jattashankarr@gmail.com

      4. Deven

        I’ve been donating for a while and ill continue to, its really nice having the option and I’ll stand by Internet Archives side. preservation is very important.

      5. Kamal Jogi

        very thankful digital library….. I learn so many idea from old Indian book…I support you… God blessed you….I pray to god… digital library…goes run for life time….our generation also search most valuable thing through with digital library…. very thankful chrisfreeland sending love from The land of Love INDIA.

      6. MG

        Thank you for providing this platform of freedom of thoughts and speech. All you had to say is new York and we all know ((they)) are against these freedoms.

    1. Yvonne Botha

      I so thoroughly enjoy open library. It gives me unlimited access to million of books. I simply love reading and this is a wonderful way of having access to all the books written by my favorite authors.
      I cannot get the libraries near my home and this online library is simply the best happening since forever.
      I support online libraries with my whole heart. This is a wonderful of getting access to books……

    2. Derek Wade

      I am disabled and my main hobby, which helps to keep the grey box alive, is in tracing my ancestors. The old donated books of pish registers and matters relating to parish history are wonderful. The numbers in existence worldwide are few and I and those like me could never afford such historical books, even if we could find them. They were donated to the library to be used as I do, please do not isolate me. In the last few weeks I have found and ancestor who fought with the Roundheads at Marstone Moor in 1645, one who laid claim to Bermuda and gave it to the English King, and my 10th g grandfather who caught the Catholics intending to blow up the Houses of Parliament in the Gunpowder Plot.

      1. Mabör Dem-nyiel Aleth

        Internet archive is one of the thing across the globe, its pertain lots of informations that feed the human needs academically in the modern civilization. Furthermore, I would like to have with me the book titled “Speeches that changed the World”.

      2. geodedata

        you have a interesting story but these people are about to erase the largest piece of history in human kind, and at least half the internet along with it – there are so many websites which also rely on internet archive for books and so many other thinks like website backups

    3. MK

      It is really worrying to see such a lawsuit. Internet Archive does not lend new books or content that is the latest and greatest which should generate most of revenues for the publishers. There are mostly archive, vintage and things from the past. However it seems that publishers turned their eyes to the old stuff as means to generate more revenue – old movies, books, music increasingly seems interesting to them. I can see this trend all over the Internet – monetisation of the historical content becomes increasingly popular. Maybe due to the lack of quality modern content, or just a simple greed – to squeeze more bucks from the historic content. If this trend continues then even the works of classics will start to be monetised. I think it’s just a question of time and some legal fiction to be invented for this to happen.
      I am frequent reader of old computer books on Internet Archive – stuff that you cannot find anywhere else.

      1. Luke

        As a counter to this I favor a broad boycott of monetized content. I have not bought a movie or a CD in 15 years, have not been in a movie theater since 2009, and do not subscribe to Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, or any other vendor of paid content. No paid or DRM’ed E-books or other publications either. This is what stopped the RIAA lawsuits of over a decade ago: tens of millions stopped buying music in response to the witch-hunt. A simple matter of ” Don’t feed the beast!”

        It is NOT a copyright violation to refuse to consume a copyright holder’s content, anymore than using GPL’d Linux instead of Microsoft Windows violates Microsoft’s copyright to the Windows install you wiped off a brand new computer.

    4. Ross Thompson

      Most of Openlibrarys books are library rejects. Where do they go? Some are sold by the libraries and others end up in used book retailers. Publishers and authors have been paid for those books. Authors and publishers will receive no more money from these books. What is the problem with openlibrary making those books available? Technically libraries selling withdrawn books are breaking copyright as are used book sellers. Publishers and authors will receive no more recompense on these books no matter where they end up ????

    5. Michelle Butler

      I fully support this online library. There is no difference between borrowing a book from an in person library or from here in an online format. There is no profit being made nor any false authorship claims. This should be a legal place to share the same reading resources that can be found at a public library.

    6. Alan O'Connor

      I use the Internet Archive for research, in the same way as a university library. Almost all the books I consult are out of print. I think the time-limited access with no download permitted is reasonable use. I sometimes do purchase a printed copy of a book that is really useful and that I want to have on hand.

    7. EGUAGTFQ

      Internet Archive has allowed me to search through books that I have subsequently purchased, hence benefitting the publishers.
      Without the ability to search within a large number of books from this website, those are purchases that I wouldn’t have made.
      Plus, for textbooks that I already own, the large amount of page flipping inevitably damages the books, particularly the spine.
      The service provided by Internet Archive allows me to keep my textbooks in good condition while still being able to access and use the material within.

    8. Rebecca L Titera

      I cherish the website! I have severe depression and anxiety disorder, some days this site provides the only relief I can. Find! Without these books I don’t know where I would be some days. Most days I read a entire novel, some days 2 novels. Having access to these books is the better than anything the drs have been able to do at times! I depend on this site to help me get through my days.
      Thank you Internet Archive you mean the world to me!

    9. jeremy

      i used to use the local University library, as time went by, so the library became expensive as a non registered student, and I have become dependent on the Internet Archive, particularly the older books, long since out of print. There cannot be a better way than the IA for the maintenance of these older works in public domain.

    10. Maria baez

      It is very important to me to have access to publications like in og.archivr.org. this organization serves an important role in making published material readily available. we have the right to have access to publications on sites like this. There is no harm, only available knowledge being provided.

    11. Hugh Gorman

      I wish to support the Internet Library. Without it, as a scholar w/o access to a university’s library system, I would be lost!

    12. OSMAN yılmaz

      I find books here that I can’t find anywhere else. I can’t imagine my academic life without the Internet Archive. I am very sorry, please don’t close the internet archive. I am writing a doctoral thesis, I benefit a lot from this site. I met this site thanks to a friend of mine. I owe him a debt of gratitude to you.

    13. ralf

      estoy deacuerdo que siga vigente internet archive siempre es una enseñansa masiva para aprender .

    1. Shane

      I’d rather we wait and see what happens. After all, I don’t think the courts have been faced with this sort of case before. If, for some reason, they end up ruling against the Internet Archive, then your suggestion might be considered.

    1. Emeila

      And I’m author of my stories for children teens and adults
      On fanfiction and Wattpad
      And hardcover books for book store library and archive.org please let me know it I’m author

      1. David Jones

        Dude I really hope you win the lawsuit. Internet Archives is what I first come to wherever I’m looking for something to watch

  1. Topher

    Such a shame that this is occurring. They seem to be arguing for something from the fiction genre. Their claims cannot be proven unless they count the number of feet inside their brick n mortar bookstores.

    I believe it has more to do with the publishing industry losing face with actual communists. If I was one, I would encourage that they preserve their control and worry less about profits. Communists act as gatekeepers of information.

    It’s troubling to see them rewriting books without author consent. Perhaps this behavior is why the very idea of an archive changes the way things are habbening. You are an important entity. Good luck and Godspeed.

    1. Linda

      You can count on my support as I appreciate having the ability to browse ,let’s say the stacks .I have been disabled for 4 years and enjoy having the I.A. at my fingertips .you will be on my mind Monday and I along with many others will be there at your side in spirit .I I am a big supporter of reading / books .I believe that this provides a wonderful educational opportunity for young and old but .It would be devastating to a lot of people if this wa shut down .Thank You

      1. Miriam Uithaler

        I was also paralyzed for nearly two years while studying and not able to come and go to external libraries. I searched for some sources I could not find even in the public libraries. I then met a stranger who gave me this website of the IA and since then I was able to complete every module except for my Afrikaans literature. So I am in support wholeheartedly of your case. A big thank you to you guys…

    2. Betty Baldwin

      I love your website. Have read since I started school in the 1950’s. I buy book and also read new releases on our library’s website. Cannot understand why it matters where I read a book. The internet has helped me find and read books that no longer available in book stores and hard to find in online bookstores. I spend money on books and have bookcases full of them. Don’t see why there is such a big to do, but I stand behind your right to copy books that have been bought and paid for by book lovers; then sent to you to copy from us to read. Not much different than me buying a book and sharing with all my friends and family.

      1. Marty (Costa Mesa)

        I just believe that internet archive will continue with everything as it has before, Betty! Look at the old math books or something else.

    3. Hazel, A. G.

      What is such a shame is being able to ensure the claimed facts documented and posted are true to the fullest extent with the understanding that all forms of media can be or have been altered in order not to cause mass panic. However constantly targeting an individual breaking in their home and taking all documentation then claiming it as their own findings while framing the person whom really did the full research including knowledge from physical presentation during written documents, completely out of order not to include mixing up the actual names of livestock animals health exams and their breeder’s listings believing they know what/who is being a topic with people they know causing billions in physical damage not including the numerous amount of deaths or mental discretion as well as reputation being completely diminished because they wanted someone else to do their homework for them.

  2. Alex

    I support the internet archive. I also support books. I also support public libraries. In addition to these valuesI have well over 1000 physical books in my home library and I continuously buy books despite being able to borrow them from the internet archive. The point here is that the publishers are engaged in FUD when it comes to their own industry. Libraries have been around for a very long time as has borrowing. I borrow things from my friends all the time and vice versa. The case is ridiculous and it’s an assault to libraries and dare I say, human nature.

    1. DW

      I’m respectfully disagreeing. In the early 1990s, I earned an MFA from a well-known program; one of the profs was a nationally known and much-celebrated writer — who earned a whopping $10K per year from his books (and thus had to teach).

      People who want to make a lot of money don’t go into publishing. Yes, some blockbusters and best-sellers appear every year, but they keep afloat the hundreds or thousands of other books published that year. So please don’t be so quick to disparage publishers; if you like to read, then you should want them to stay afloat.

      Surely there’s a middle ground whereby the wonderful Internet Archive could still exist, offering books free of charge. and the publishers could receive some compensation in some way.

  3. David H

    The wonder to me , as a content consumer, is this:

    How could Wikipedia be legal, and the I-Archive NOT be legal?

    I use both for the same purposes, and generally gather very similar content from both!

    **Both** obviously deserve our support……

  4. David Garcia

    The internet archive — both the book archives and the archives of websites — represent an essential resource to all present and future researchers. The loss of this would be catastrophic for future generations. It is insane that this is even a possibility. It will rival every book burning in human history.

    1. Tarla

      So true! The internet archive is a godsend and like books,a good friend.
      Especially for people with limited mobility n senior citizens.
      I support Internet archive.

  5. sandyH

    i support you against all those vile greedy publishers ..you are not stealing from anyone
    isnt it enough that they destroyed google books…and they forced you to change everything
    how absolutely evil

  6. Mohamed Emara

    I support the internet archive too much
    عاجلا اة عاجلا ستتحول كل الكتب الي كتب ديجيتال رقمية
    انتم تقومون بعمل عظيم جداا

  7. Tashiro

    i know right i need this site to store classic movies and my Animes Digitally so others can enjoy them

  8. Landon Hopwood

    In no way, shape, or form should there be a reason to remove the Internet Archive. The first Amendment gives us free establishment of religion, etc., there are many non-profits and a lot of people in the general sense who utilize this to help those who don’t have access to libraries… This is more evidence that our freedom is in jeopardy… The elites behind this cancel culture are really trying to limit the information to the public. We need to not only rise up for ourselves, but for the younger generations.

  9. jon portera

    This archive library is a wonderful resource, especially for seniors on a budget or anyone for that matter. Many books are out of print or are hard to come by. At least the ones I read. Sometimes there are instances when people find it hard to go to the library for various reasons. One might even say it is a hardship for rural folks or disabled people. This reminds me of the suppression of a certain type of free speech and/or censorship but it is certainly a control mechanism set up by the corporations to squeeze out profits and limit the choice of free materials to read. Greed predominates where people’s rights are infringed!

  10. dorothy

    I really hope yall win this i live this site so much it has gotten me through many tough times and I get yo read all my childhood favorites. I’m rooting for you

  11. Adam Lane

    I support the service and will donate what I can afford, which will be fraction of the value that I have received. Everyone who uses Internet Archive please donate whatever you can afford. Losing this service would be a disaster.

  12. Daniel

    I can’t survive without archive.org! It is undoubtedly one of the unique world heritage sites!

  13. Susan Labigan

    I am physically disabled..I look to internet archive for books to read..on a daily basis..it is my happy place.. please keep this site open for all to enjoy..

  14. Hadi

    I am really one of the supporters of this site and this
    library. Honestly I tell you, I breathe through books which
    Internet Archive provided with free for us and I can’t stand imagine how can I continue without them.

  15. Jack Stoddart

    Jack Stoddart
    I am a teacher and find Internet Archive a valuable resource for preparing coursework and deciding which books to recommend for purchase. During recent lockdowns, a home curriculum worked out in this way has been very useful to accompany more formal lessons, in particular for comparing various non-fiction titles according to different learning styles of pupils at home. Mostly those comparisons involve titles no longer in print, alongside books purchased for specific subjects or projects.

  16. John Clark

    First of all, the argument is about what is speech? It is simple. All a mind can do is read, using t he whole body called perception. We then process what we have read using grammar systems of which, there are exactly four: Common Grammar, Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry. This is due to the fact that all information is process by one or more methods of binary recursion. Eash of these is a specific method of using binary recursion.
    But, that is all a mind can do. Everyone is the same. Read, Process, and write the results back to the body as our behavior.
    What you are deciding is human biological rights to these processes, i.e., that some people are above others, and can censor a biological process. I.e. You are arguing the very foundation of civilization, and the right of ever individual to be treated as having eq1ual access to recorded memory of those who have gone before.
    To assume anyone has the right to censorship, is at the very core, sociopathic.

  17. Marie

    I love Open library, this has helped me enjoy some old books and discover some wonderful ones.

    I wish you the best.

  18. Adam

    Dumb idea to defend public libraries but opposing the digital library.

    Borrow a book from physical library, and a return must be made in 14 days = Downloading a e-book from a digital library that have a DRM system that locks the user out in 14 days.

    Realistically, when all copies of a book on the library’s bookshelf are borrowed, the next patron try to borrow it have to wait until any of those copies are returned = when the number of copies of an e-book the digital library legally owns is also the number of people currently borrowing it, results the next person having to join the waitlist until any of the currently digitally-borrowed books are returned (either the other borrowers manually return it or the DRM auto-returns it)

    Physical books can be illegally snapped by a camera by a patron = the same act can be done on an e-book displayed on a device’s screen.

    It’s basically a library simulator, but a real digital library.

  19. Laura Salisbury

    I’m very thankful for Internet Archive. There are so many books and authors who are hard to find. Also, IA has introduced me to books from authors I’d read but hadn’t heard of or found all the books they had written.

    We pay high taxes but our public library is quite sad. I’m excited to have a community-sourced lending library.

  20. Donna

    I’m glad digital libraries exist because a physical one can be damaged, and it’s sad when a libraries roof gets damaged by to much snow then gets closed down. It’s going to be replaced with a new, it’s being torn down so a new one can be built where it is since that city has no other space for a library. So digital ones are needed when that can happen to physical building. I’ll keep this library in my prayers until after that has passed, and I hope, and pray nothing happens to it.

  21. George

    This is very sad indeed , and sounds like suppression of free speech , and American culture , and our history to me . Hope you win your case ! And the Lord God helps us from all this . And people turn to him , in faith , as their personal Saviour from sin . From the greatest book , the Holy Bible . John 3 , Romans 10 , , 1 Corinthians 15 .

  22. PM

    Elderly people, people with disabilities, people who are house bound ….are able to access an online library better and benefit from it.
    The internet archives …is like the internet, accessible from any part of the world. People in other countries, outside the United States also benefit from its resources…
    The world has moved online…how can an online libraray be shut. Both physical and online resources can co exsist.

    I support the Internet Archives ability to remain open and selflessly help so many people of the world….

    Best regards

  23. Johns Bridge

    It is unbelievable how Internet Archive has put a sea of books by my bedside. It is one of the few good things that have happened in my lifetime. It is the right of book lovers to get access to the treasures hidden in these Libraries and enjoy unfolding pleasures wrapped in the pages. No one has the right to usurp Readers’ Right.

  24. Tel Hudson

    I buy new books and I buy secondhand books but this library is one of the few places that I can read books that are out of print. It seems wrong for publishers to deny people the right to borrow a book when they refuse to make a copy available.

  25. S

    Knowledge is the basis of the evolution of the human soul.
    Information is what the universe is made of.
    Entropy always increases.
    Thank you Chris for giving us the ability to evolve faster.

  26. Stephen Clark

    I can’t thank enough Archive Foundations as I have been totally relying on their services. I think it would have been impossible to re-fetch old content on the web if it were not for the Archive service. I have lost my website’s data in the past several times and I could easily bring it back to the Server due to Archive.

    I stand with Archive…

  27. Gyorgy Gereby

    I fully support I.A. as a wonderful resource. I am a historian who uses only the book collection. It is an indispensable source for rare scholarly books. Any public or university library offers the same kind of service but with limited holdings. The controlled borrowing secures that there is no infringement of copyrights. In fact, photocopies are easier to make in public libraries than of images at the I.A. In addition, I.A. helps to save the environment (way fewer interlibrary loans and travelling of books) and allows less privileged parts of the world to have access to knowledge. Hence the I.A. is a public library accessible online in a controlled way. As a limitless library (theoretically), it is a real treasure house of the literary achievements of humanity (way better than Google books). Libraries will still buy books since it is better to use hard copies, but for quick reference the accessibility offered by I.A. is vital.

  28. Rasheed Ahmad Bugti

    Internet Archive is one of my favorite and authentic source of all type of books. I found several books and gazets of history of Balochistan. Which is normally hard to find in other free sites. I wish you all the best.
    But I would like to point out that as a reader we all must know that why archive.org facing a case mean which type of allegations are being faced in court.

  29. [DæI]

    This is where i have been able to make very vast leaps in the success of my own education, self enlightenment, and currently self protection and secure my own unalienable rights afforded by the forgotten ways of the forefathers whom paved the way for us all, and now the very words that they have left us to use and follow behind are in such jeopardy, the giant corps only want us to be stupid, and most people aren’t able to comprehend the meanings of that any deeper then feeling like its a attack on there personal feelings, im worried my people will perish for a lack of knowledge. It wasn’t too long ago they burned all the books, probably more so then I even know…however as digital rights have usurped the physical, what controls the digital copies is oh so very important as most books we rarely don’t hold copies of. so pay very close attention to our only source of free education as if this one here goes..well i don’t want to even think that way…. so general names of the digital book area….we have the kindle…then the kindle fire there are more to list im sure but this is not the place or time for all that…but i wonder if these eBooks are what the kindle and the fire are referring too, as they slowly take away digital education we will have only personal archives….scary though see you all on Monday i hope

  30. Frank Coufal

    In my 4 years as a registered user on this website, it’s always a joy for me to find and rediscover several books I loved as a kid, as well as new ones I’m eager to read for the first time. I definitely support you.

    I have faith that the court will realize just how important libraries, especially community-based ones like the Internet Archive are in the digital age.

  31. Patrick

    The Internet Archive is actually vastly superior to a public library. The search function alone makes it invaluable for research. Having direct access to many out-of-print and historic resources that would otherwise be hard-to-find, unavailable or lost-to-time is critical to the preservation and development of human knowledge. Most real libraries don’t have the physical space to store everything, so digital libraries are obviously the way forward. Not to mention, physical copies of media age and are eventually destroyed. Not so with digital copies, provided they are archived correctly. All public libraries will eventually operate like the Internet Archive, so the idea that they are somehow legally different is nonsense.

  32. Safaa Fahes

    I am a PhD student majoring in English language and literature.
    I am in full support for Internet Archive. The situation in Lebanon, particularly for students of the Lebanese University, is deplorable. There is a very poor library that is not at all enough for pursuing a Phd, and the economic conditions in Lebanon are absolutely intolerable, so we are not at all able to buy books or pay for journal articles, which are not free for Lebanese University students.

    I do hope that the court would allow Internet Archive to continue its work for the sake of those who face dire financial conditions, as means of securing opportunity of education to underprivileged people, as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

  33. atef mohsen

    my name is atef , i am from Cairo, Egypt
    i support Internet Library becuse it gives accessibility to knowledge since i can’t afford to have this books.
    your project help millions from developed nations how deserve accessability to knowledge as any body ealse on the globe.
    it is part of our human rights.
    the court should know that closing this window for us it means that capitalism in the west are against Human Right of the people from developed nations how deserve to read and learn we are not demanding to have uptodate “its a dream for most of us any way !” but don’t deprive us from your (knowlage) leftovers.
    please imagine a person in a developed country most of its people live with less than 2$ a day with bad knowledge infrastructure like libraries under autocratic regimes that hates knowledge have a window like Internet Library to know and learn and you came and close it because of a wish of capitalist entities that the only care for it are money and profit despite of the needs of millions of us in developed country and thier hunger for knowlage and learning.
    knowledge and learning are our way to freedom and justice so don’t stand with our dictators and autocratic regimes who want to deprive us from it.
    please defend and protectour right to know , to have hope in a better world and futre.
    it is part of Human right that stated that All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and we want to be equal in acquiring knowlage .
    please don’t close that window and keep the light go thought for all people who lives in darkness and fear and give them the knowlage for thier fight for freedom and justice .
    please keep our faith on humanity and in the better future that we all pursuit.

  34. Surinder pal Singh

    I fully support and vote in favor of Internet Archive made its appearance public as it is very important for intellectual fraternity.

  35. li xiao long

    I am from China, and I will always support archive.org! ! ! I’ve been using archive.org for close to a decade and hope the site comes back soon.

  36. Millicent

    The humans running the corporations which are Hachette et al should attack the AI wealth corporations which have and will gobble forever every good and bad word in every book, and make untold trillions of wealth for someone who did not at all write the books they use usuriously, instead of bullying a library filled with people from all over the world, no matter how righteous their legal teams tells them their odiferous actions add to the bottom line.

    Where are the great, wealthy mega-authors hiding instead of helping out?
    Crickets. Hmm. Wonder why.

  37. R. Sen

    I strongly support internet archive. Not everyone can buy books. This is a wonderful resource for students, older people on pensions, people in 3rd world countries. These can easily be read while traveling etc. It also has a vast number of old books not easily available in any library or bookstore. PLEASE dont shut it down.

  38. Jiqiuyan Shi

    I’ve used Internet Archive for a long time since I became a Master’s student, I can’t imagine how to do research without Internet Archive. Nowadays is a global era, we need a digital public library like Internet Archive to gain knowledge from all over the world no matter where we live. We have the rights to read books and have access to public libraries! Today I am standing by Internet Archive’s side!

  39. AMAR

    I HAVE SUPPORT FOR INTERNET ARCHIVE THATS BOOK AND VIDEO CHANGE MY CAREER DONT DO ANYTHING ILLEGAL FOR THIS SITE

  40. Laura Boyes

    So many of the books I read via Internet library have been discarded by other libraries – no longer on circulation or withdrawn stamp! Second – many of the books I borrow from IA are not available in bookshops or on Kindle. Sometimes I can source them on second-hand online shops – but then I have to pay expensive postal charges. I live in Portugal – I am not yet fluent in the Portuguêse language – my nearest bookshop with s limited collection of English language books is in Lisbon – about 3 and 1/2 hours drive away!!
    I depend on IA – what on earth are the reasons against IA – surely it operates as any other library? It has to purchase the original text? Which is then available to borrowers. It’s automatically returned within a specific time frame – what is the issue?

  41. Madhuri Verma

    I am very fond of internet archive digital library.
    And l support it in it’s endeavor to acquire rights to publish books. On digital platform.

  42. Valentina

    I totally support Internet Archive, is vital for humanity to have a repository of this kind. To the people who have doubts about this space should exist as it does or not: Please consider this space as a collective gift and common good, don’t look at it on an individual or just-a-few scale. The labor that has been put here in recollecting these books, documents, etc. is immense and in short and long-term we are all benefited from it. Please have wide and higher view on this. This is legacy for all. Thanks for considering this. All small and egotistic things and benefits come to pass in life.

  43. Huda

    literally, this is the best website I ever used in my life. thank you a lot for your effort and you really deserve all the support

  44. Inayat

    If the court is knowledge loving and have some educated jury.it is impossible to bane such sites.

  45. Chris Waggoner

    The battleforlibraries.com website is glitching. I support the Internet Archive in this case and have saved the comments I wrote on battleforlibraries.com. I’m happy to send them wherever they will be read or sign further petitions.

  46. Deborah A Hostetter

    I’m rooting for you! I live overseas in a place where books in English are expensive and hard to come by, I have kindle but most cheap books on there are trash. Internet archive has helped save my sanity these past years! Really hope you succeed.

  47. Cindy

    Save the library. We need it. Not everyone can afford to buy books online. Everything is about money these days. I have a lot of want to read books in my want to read list and I keep going in just to check if the books are finally available. I live in SA and I can’t afford to buy books on Amazon or any other online book site. The fees are high especially if you have to ship from overseas. I mean let’s say paying over R200 for one freaking book. No way I’d rather wait for the books in Internet Archive. Save Internet Archive!!!!! Save Internet Archive!!!!

  48. cw

    I wish Internet Archive all the best in fighting this. I.A. is my happy place so it deserves better.

  49. Prof. Dr. Anil Jaydeo Ganvir

    I plead the court to realize the significance of this website which helps the poor and needy to access the treasury of knowledge. I support this website. I have been downloading sevral suitable volumes which are not easily available. This is the library which is meant for needy reserchers. The endevours of the website owner are highly appreciable. It has changed my life.

  50. Anjali Ohri

    I completely support internet Archive library, it’s a digital safe guard for generations to come.A true friend of every knowledge seeker, geniuses who r poor also benefit.
    Wisdom and knowledge should have no monopoly.

  51. ARI

    Guyss some people need this library. I mean fr tho this after bingewatch.to is literally my favkirite website. Also it has books we cant even get from normal bookstores

  52. JENNIFER ROBIN GALLERY

    As an advocate, researcher, and archiver for the Wild Horse and Burro Advocacy group #WHBA, I have found your organization to be the most important tool to document the lies our government spews out daily. Evidence and Facts matter, and access to documents they make ‘disappear’ is crucial to this fight, and to all people worldwide. I thank you, and no doubt the world thanks you for your efforts. Keep fighting, we are with you!

  53. Rob

    I’ve been doing a study of ancient greek texts. This Archive has been a wonderful resource. I am so grateful for it’s availability. I truly hope it will continue !

  54. Guillaume G. Soucy

    Hello,

    On everyday I am getting a look at IA to see what’s new. I’m always able find something interesting to read, listen or to watch there.

    It would be the end of a world if this had to disappear.

    Today I decided to make another donation to IA to show my support toward the service.

    Let’s stand together for a better internet future!

    Sincerely,

    Guillaume G. Soucy
    IT Consultant

  55. Ronald kral

    You can have it. The copyright law is a sleeping demon and it must be STOPPED!

    I’M WITH YOU!

  56. Freddy Sendu

    I love to reading the books especially in christian spiritual books which in hard to find in my country’s library and the cost of the book is expensive and I am not afforable to buy. Internet Archive satisfy my need and increase my knowledge about christian life.

    When my pastor preachs or teaches about some subject which new to me, I am always first explore about it in Internet Archive, then some websites which I can trust. Thank you the Internet Archive and my prayer is to see your service available on the future always.

  57. Denise Oliver

    Internet Archive is what is best about the web. I feel so strongly about this that I am a monthly donor. It will be a sad day if it is taken down.

  58. Mike

    Internet Archive is a very useful resource that is introducing books that otherwise might have been missed because they’re not all available from libraries.

    Also it enables you to read from home avoiding the need to visit a library just to get books.

    I know of no other online resource that is so versatile in the range of literature it offers.

  59. John Bailey

    The internet archive is the most important resource on the internet. The publishers already have had Congress pass laws that protect copyrights for so long that it’s ridiculous. Now this. You can’t read papers published in scholarly journals either. So what is the internet, a bunch of ephemeral nonsense. Most of the books on Internet Archive are more than 10 years old, out of print or hard to find. This offends the boys with the black briefcases.

    I support the Internet Archive. Please don’t take this resource away from poor people who want to read instead of watching moronic videos.

  60. Scott O’Leary

    I will keep you in my prayers that you will win the case against these massively greedy, and very close-minded publishers, who have no idea how important it is to have these books available for people who can’t afford to buy these books, and it is such a major blessing to have these books available – especially first editions – for educational purposes.

    I have never enjoyed so much reading as much as I have at your website. I am loving so much the books that I am reading from your site, and it will be an absolute devastation if those books were taken away from me, and from others, who have benefited so much from your digital library as much as I have.

    I also want to contribute books of my own that will be heavily beneficial to the library.

    What these publisher jerks need to understand is what will happen if they win the case, and the digital library is forced to close.

    These books will go to oblivion and will remain unknown. They would be doing a major disservice to the entire planet.

    Thank you so much, Internet Archive, for everything you have done for us and for me by having all the content that you have on this site, and thank you for fighting to keep this online for the right reasons.

    I know that what I am saying is too mild and will not be as affective as anyone else’s comments if they were to say what I said instead, but I am just doing the very best I can to translate into text what I truly feel inside. I am honestly doing a poor job.

    But once again, I pray for your victory. If I was rich, I would give Millions of dollars – rather than my laughable 10 dollars a month – to support your website, and pay these publishing vipers to go away and never return.

    If you win the case, I will also continue to pray and hope that you will always keep your mission statement for this website enforced and you never give in to the temptation to sellout like other sites have done – such as Youtube.

    You guys are the greatest website this planet has ever had for us thus far, and you truly are a God-Send.

  61. Mike H.

    This one of the few place I can come and unwind. This Archive is my salvation from working double shifts all the time, and it would be a damn shame if it got taken away like a new toy. Save my sanity, and keep this library open!!!!!!!

  62. Christopher McAvey

    Internet Archive has been a boon to me, I’ve been able to re-discover my favorite parts of my childhood there.

    And the thought that someone would try to ruin that just sickens me. I’ll try to help any way I can.

  63. hg

    Crazy for these publishers to think that they’re “losing millions of dollars” for access to books mostly long out of print.

  64. Elizabeth Beckmann

    American public school teachers usually do not have degrees in what they teach and falsely label students for funding. Public schools are not a place to learn and receive an education nor is YouTube. However, Internet Archive is filled with intellectual material, how to books, a vast archive of lectures, etc. that are not only not in our schools or libraries, but out of print, which make this website better than ones that are used to divide Americans, dumb us down and market what corporations want us to read, watch, etc. Please don’t destroy yet another free and open resource for the public.

  65. Shantae

    I really hope you guys win this. I love Internet Archive! Endless information about any and everything, 99% of the time I can find any book I want. This website is awesome.

  66. Azelia

    Know that this is brave and generous work. The Light will be on your side. And I think the hopes of many too whose lives are better thanks to the Internet Archive. I wish you strength and peace no matter what the outcome. You will be in my prayers… all the best!

  67. Luke

    If it weren’t for Internet Archive, I would not have bought the printed books that this service made me aware of.

  68. Badr Bally

    I hope the site doesn’t goes down.

    It’s been helpful in providing material that’s REALLY hard to find.

  69. KayT

    Ditto. I have become housebound due to illness and can no longer leave leave the house. The free Internet Archive is my public library. Also, I live in a country where to get to a decent library, you need to travel to the main big four cities and they don’t carry the great majority of the books I read here.

  70. Jordan Frederick

    As someone currently studying to be a librarian, who is also a writer myself, I support Internet Archive. The point of libraries is to provide free, universal access to knowledge; to assist in intellectual freedom and freedom of thought. Shutting down Internet Archive or Open Library works against this freedom of access. I would partcipate if not for work, but I am thinking of you!

  71. Marjorie Ferris

    With out-of-print books and books with lapsed copyrights, I see no issue. Iinternet Archives is a priceless boon for locating books almost impossible to find in the local library and certainly not in bookstores, (even used-books stores.) But with more recent books, and other material, I do see a problem, not just for publishers but for authors too. I would hate to write a great book and see a huge share of my profits lost due to it being distributed for free online. People are making money on YouTube just based on the number of clicks and subscriptions they get. Perhaps some procedure could be worked out in which publishes and authors receive some remuneration based on the number of clicks. It would probably mean that a person would have to pay a small fee to access material of a later date…or I.A. would have to allow some advertising or charge a subscription fee for people defray the cost of paying publishers and authors for their work.

    1. Desiree

      You’re wrong – a public library doesn’t cut into an author’s profits, since, by that time, the author doesn’t make anymore money anyway. And this website is a public library. Internet Archive should never have advertising or charge any fee to its users. The books are only loaned out hourly. That’s hardly “distributing for free”. Authors lose money when their books are pirated, so do publishers, but libraries are easy targets; it’s much more difficult to go after some faceless hacker.

  72. Muhammad Shahrukh

    I wil always support internet archieve.it is one of my favourite library and a have learnt a lot of knowledge from this website.Really appreciate your work and really love this app.

  73. Miriam Hou

    I have been an Internet Archive subscriber for over a decade. Words are not strong enough to describe my gratitude to have acces to books I would never have been able to read otherwise. Thank you
    I support you wholeheartdly.

  74. GOD

    I am The Creator Allah/GOD Or Jesus Christ
    You don’t want to support taking this website away
    And that’s a warning. Do as you wish.
    #EternityInHell :⁠^⁠)

  75. DigidoridArchives

    I’m glad Internet Archive exists, I love to find something interesting on the Internet Archive, I hope you win in court, screw these scumbag companies who always wants to ruin everything.

  76. Tanner Williamson

    Hopefully common sense will prevail when all is said and done. A single digital checked out copy of a book is akin to a physical book. It is only read and seen by one person at a time, and doesn’t amount to any loss of profits in the same way that a physical book being checked out doesn’t deprive a publisher of lost profits.

  77. Marc Holman

    To see the Internet Archive go down would be like watching the great Library of Alexandria burned to the ground by ignorant barbarians.

    Godspeed to you in your fight to protect the archives!!

    Marc Holman

  78. Tayo Fayii

    My love for reading and researching has brought me on here, I love internet archive (open library) thank you Mr director
    This is the best place to get books to expand your knowledge and understanding about anything you want.

  79. Mike Burns

    Please spare libraries and digital lending from big monied publishing interests. Knowledge and human creative use of the written word are the common heritage of all people. Let us not create a two-tiered society in knowledge, as we have already done with wealth.

  80. Seema

    This is the best site where easily find your required book of any interest. I support Internet Archive

  81. Nathan Maher

    This makes me so angry!

    This shouldn’t even be a remote possibility, let alone happen.

    This is a bloody travesty. As always: Greedy, private corporate interest (and if I may add moreover, sc*m). They can go to hell. Miserable cretins.

    I will be following this case diligently in the coming weeks/months and pray that the Internet Archive remains in operation without any potential problems.

  82. John Feeney

    The range of old, unknown books available by Internet Archive is a game changer. It allows for advances in our breathe of knowledge about history, which can only be good for mankind. There is no way a book store can hold this vast amount of knowledge and remain profitable.

  83. Oscar Varas

    companies with the help of the state always cause freedom and information to be eliminated and censored according to their parameters of what is correct or real.
    the preservation of internet data is a constant fight against censorship.
    long live archive.org, long live internet, long live freedom.

  84. Vincent Giannell

    Even if Internet Archive wins in court, those greedy jerks will probably appeal and if that fails, then they’ll take their case to the Supreme Court.

  85. Aaron

    The Internet Archive has been so helpful to me for providing great books that I can find nowhere else. It is a wonderful virtual refuge for introverts like myself that prefer to spend their small moments of solitude, totally engrossed in awesome books. This is a unique and much cherished website that serves many purposes for people who prefer to self-study on a budget. I firmly support Internet Archive and I appreciate their dedication to self-education and entertainment. Thank you for what you all do.

  86. Julie

    The Internet Archive is an immeasurable asset, used world wide…it must not be taken away!

  87. Carlton W Yancey

    Was searching for “The De Soto Chronicles Vol 1 & 2: The Expedition of Hernando de Soto to North America in 1539-1543,” tried a search on your site, “openlibrary.org,” and came across your imminent court hearing and just had to contribute to support your efforts. Break a leg! Thank you. cwy

  88. Sam

    I love Internet Archive. Who the hell would want to take it away from us? Please, it’s a big asset for humanity.

  89. Harish Mishra

    appreciate their dedication to self-education and entertainment. Thank you for what you all do.

  90. Salaar

    The Internet Archive has been a valuable source of digital nostalgia to me for more than 2 decades now. I fully support your cause and hope you will win every single court case which comes your way!

  91. lisanarb1

    Internet Archive is one of my favorite and authentic source of all type of books. I found several books and gazets of history of Balochistan. Which is normally hard to find in other free sites. I wish you all the best.
    But I would like to point out that as a reader we all must know that why archive.org facing a case mean which type of allegations are being faced in court.

  92. Aerick McCullough

    I really hope you guys win this case!! I do not want to see the Internet Archive getting shut down.

    I support the Internet Archive 100%!! The best archive out there.

  93. ProLaymann

    Thanks for your services..

    At the moment, I can only offer you my prayers..

    May The Almighty Guide you and keep you firm.

  94. Anon

    Internet Archive is so amazing! I love to read, but I’m in college in a country where it is difficult to find English books that are not the newest releases, and I happen to prefer reading many older editions or older books. Internet Archive is often the only way to access these books because they are 99% of the time not accessable even on the Overdrive/Libby app with American libraries. Internet Archive has unique books that I would most definitely not be able to find elsewhere.

  95. Copyright owner and holder

    As owner of my Copyrights, including being the creator and author, I recently came to the Internet Achieve to deposit some of my works that are now 20 or more years old so society can enjoy it.

    Since I am not making any money on my work being this old, most of what I have done is of historic importance.

    I also put in the description that my work is for personal, in-home viewing, and prohibit any commercial use or sales.

    Now we have publishers who claim they are loosing “revenue” or rights by having works put on the Internet Archive that are 20 or more years old. I understand the Copyright claim, but they were NOT making any profits from old, out of print publications.

    There are people who no longer utilize a local public library, and this is partly due to corporations wanting practically everything to be on the Internet so they can save in costs yet claiming they are “green.”

    Getting back to the issue here, as long as people do not sell our Copyrighted material, there is no harm in having our works out in the public. Any and all rights still are authors and not public domain.

    There is a lot of material on the Achieve that is public domain because material was not properly registered or the duration of the copyright expired. In addition, there is also material from defunct companies or businesses, and the rights were never transferred.

    As an author and Copyright holder I understand both sides, but all this fuss or commotion is about control. It is not about the few dollars of revenue that might be realized decades later even if they make such a claim.

    The Internet Achieve is a historic repository. If it were to be disbanded or shuttered, so much history will be lost forever. History and the past is how we learn.

    Are these same plaintiffs going after Google? Google digitizes books, magazines, and other copyrighted material all the time, yet states that the Copyright is still the author’s.

    The United States of America was founded on freedom of thought. The Internet Achieve is just that, a resource so humanity can learn, and enjoy works from fellow human beings.

  96. Kris Hughes

    It would be almost impossible for me to do the research in Celtic Studies that I do, from a rural location in the US, without the Internet Archive. I can’t wait for three weeks, for the two week loan of difficult-to-access journals (often 50 – 100 years old). That is the reality of inter-library loan. Internet Archive also means I can give my students and causal readers links, rather than just citations.

  97. JJA

    All these months, I have been praying for IA. The work you guys are doing is amazing: making centuries of knowledge available without bothering about geographical boundaries or monetary benefits. I cannot thank you enough.

    1. Stephen

      A lot of the content here are in the public domain, some of the rest would perish in obscurity if they have not been so neatly catalogued for easy access.

      I emplore those in the business of selling knowledge to bear the difference on this particular site.

  98. Joanna RG

    100% YES! I support internet archive. It’s an awesome place where you can borrow any book available *for free*.. You can’t really find that anywhere else.. Internet archive is kinda like my second house, I really do hope you get those rights.

  99. Lahcen

    Dear Archivists,
    You are doing a noble service and noble work and I wish you continuation and a long life in these struggling times where most of all industries including the publishing industry who accuses you in this court case, they were running only after money profits at whatever it takes them to do that. They have to look for other means to develop their business and stop accusing you for decreasing their clientele and making their business in danger, it’s ridiculous! How if you remove all their titles from your databases, it will not impact Archive.org!)They are jealous for your success in delivering rich contents instantly before them. Your free lending of materials is valuable and priceless. I was using your platform more than a decade ago and still using it almost everyday, it’s very helpful. Bu I also still buy print books whenever I want to have them as reference for my researches. I am totally on your side and you will win.

  100. Aditi Rath

    I am associated with your website since past five years. Now it has become a sort of life line for me especially during & after the pandemic. I think many people like me share the same views. The activities of Internet Archive has a tremendous positive social impact. It’s very unfortunate that a legal notice has been issued to the organisation. I hope Internet Archive comes out victorious of this ordeal, expanding & extending it’s activities thereby benefitting millions of people throughout the world . All my prayers & best wishes are there for you in this fight for justice.

  101. Aami

    I support. I am a research scholar and continuously visited your website for reading and downloading books. Internet archive is a huge source of knowledge I appreciate your efforts behind this online library. Fight, our prayers will be with you all people who shares us knowledge, who makes our study easy. Thank you and best wishes.
    Aami

  102. Aami

    I support. I am a research scholar and continuously visited your website for reading and downloading books. Internet archive is a huge source of knowledge I appreciate your efforts behind this online library. Fight, our prayers will be with you all people who shares us knowledge, who makes our study easy. Thank you and best wishes.
    Aami

  103. Sudharma Daine

    I fully support the Internet Archives Library to continue for a long time for the benefit of the present generation
    and generations to come

  104. tthevbmlord@gmail.com

    Hi, This is Kaustubh from India. I am highly obliged to Internet archive as it has helped me to build a research career. People who work for Internet archive are amazing, they let us access the knowledge beyond boundaries, so this great source of knowledge should exist freely. I do support internet archive. I wish for their win at the court.

  105. Zaw

    This is an incredibly important moment for libraries, digital rights, and the future of public access to knowledge. We’re standing up for the digital rights of libraries to make books available to readers online, and this is an issue that affects us all. It’s time for us to come together and protect our right to access and share knowledge.

  106. Karen Elliot

    What would happen, in the positive and in the negative, if the requirements for adding content to archive.org were the same as the requirements for removing content to archive.org? To add content requires a login. To get a login requires an email address. No confirmation of identity is required. To remove content requires real name identification, real world address, real world telephone number, real world email address, a statement “made under penalty of perjury” about the request, a (legally binding) signature. There is no statement as to how this information is used, who has access to it, whether or not it is made public or private, etc. Upload? The gates are open wide. Remove? Let’s see your papers.

  107. Timothy Pernell

    I don’t think they will rule against y’all because I’m sure the courts would realize that their arguments are VERY flimsy. I support your right to present books to people who can’t afford them. Especially when some libraries don’t hold some of these books.

  108. Anantha krishnan

    I support Internet Archive. All kinds of books are available here, that’s a great and appreciable job. Keep it up and keep going.

  109. Isaac

    I like internet Archive. I hope it stays forever. I like listening to the auidobooks it has.

  110. gh0st gh0st

    So sychronis to have just today learned of the new Silent Hill games and content which then nspired me to try more new to me releases of the franchise in the meantime, PT and Silent Hill 3, on the Internet Archive! So grateful to have come just in time to have chance at supporting one of my most delightful discoveries online, one I’ve told countless friends about who don’t know such a valuable recourse esists!!! <3

  111. Desiree

    Publishers milk public, school, and university libraries with these rental fees for access. They are reliable sources of cash flow in a highly risky business. Because Internet Archive only scans books (rather than having actual digital copies made by publishers that are leased out), the publishers can’t get a cut. That’s the whole issue.

    What’s so disheartening is that publishers are missing the big picture. If they are truly interested in spreading knowledge (rather than making money), they’d leave this website alone. It’s a library for the world, nothing like it exists anywhere. Crushing it will cause actual harm to real people, and I don’t think that’s overstating it.

    Words cannot adequately express how absolutely wonderful this website is. I’ve only used it for maybe 6 months, but I’ve found many books here I can’t find anywhere else, and if I love them, I’ll buy a physical copy if possible.

    I worry the publishers will buy off a judge or judges. I hope I’m wrong. Sadly, this is why digital versions of things make me uneasy – something can happen (a glitch, a hacker, a lawsuit….) and everything you loved is gone forever. This, of course, is what they want: once you control the flow of and access to information, you have total control of the people.

    Please fight hard, Internet Archive. The whole world needs you!

  112. C.J.

    I appreciate your site, very much. I pray, that everything will go well for internet archives. in the court hearing.

  113. Mel

    This is terrible, those companies suing the Archive are greedy. All they do half of the time is steal shared content from the Archive that is rare and slap on their brand or logo.

    I think people should support the Archive and support the freedom to share archived content. Pretty much everything is now in the public domain. And if they have a problem, it’d be more easier for them to make a copyright claim to have any items they wanted taken down right? Instead of taking it to court?

    The lawsuit by those third-party companies suing the Archive to me, seems more about greed than anything else. Nobody is going to buy “old” or “outdated” content. So how are they losing money?

    Also the fact that these companies come directly to the Archive and steal content that has been ripped or shared, especially RARE music, and basically re-sell these songs with a quick remaster. Anyone can remaster music, but to openly take and not credit a source just because you merely claim to own the rights to these archived contents is greedy.

    I say support the Archive, because it is the best website ever for out of date content and archived material from the past. It’s literally a library. But a library that people worldwide can access. Normally libraries are exclusive to each and every area.

  114. Evgeni Starikov

    I stand with your site, such a great archive history site!
    May God Bless You & Your Team!

  115. Fiona

    Internet Archive has valuable treasures of books that anyone can access from any part of the world. It makes learning more convenient, and research materials can be gathered at home. During the pandemic, Internet Archive has served as a source of knowledge to the needy. A meaningful task in the digital age. Thank you, Internet Archive.

  116. Alex

    If I may ask—what does this mean for the other branches of the sites? Is there a chance that the other branches could be taken down as well, or does this only apply to the book library? Thank you! My best wishes.

  117. Boganboy

    I remember when I was rummaging around in the National Library in Canberra, looking for copies of Fortescue’s History of the British Army. And a nice young lady pointed me to the Internet Archives.

    This archive is a wonderful source of information and entertainment.

    I hope it stays available for us all.

  118. Mohammad

    Internet Archive has taken great steps in the direction of human knowledge, stopping this site means injustice to science and knowledge and this is really unfair.

  119. Amin

    Thirty-seven million books are a huge source of knowledge, all sections of society use this site. For example, writers, historians, researchers, doctors, psychologists, engineers, mathematicians, chemists, language learners and many others.

  120. Hitendra Mishra

    This is a tremendous site. In fact this is what the internet should be for – information available to everyone, free,
    One can find books here which are not available anywhere else.

    I support Internet Archive.

  121. Graham David Salmon

    I have early onset dementia and having access to read books read aloud to me very helpful . Without this I would have to spend a lot of money to buy similar in the shops.

  122. Carlos

    ¿Hacia adonde nos quieren llevar? buscan tener el control de todo y de todos buscan que solo seamos como ellos quieren y que consumamos lo que ellos nos dejen usar . Un control total que asumiran unos pocos para obtener el dominio de todos.

  123. Yunas Mahmoof

    Ofcourse,this sort of library is the need of the day.By having such a library,it is the greatest help to those who want to read but the lack of financial resources doent not let them to read.They may quench their thirst by having access to such a digital library where books on all subjects are available free of cost.We support and stand up for such library.

  124. The Author

    Don’t have a clue why people keep on fighting for such a thing as authority. Nowadays, nothing seems to be original. Every author is taking things and ideas from other authors of the past, adding new things that are not even their own ideas but someone else’s thoughts – which, by the way, are mine – and presenting them as the ultimate knowledge. It is just ridiculous. I am very sorry. I would argue that even the best of the best have once copied the idea of someone else and presented it as their own. At the moment the judge, fundamentals, jurisprudence, justice, and even crimes are not original; they are copies of a copy of another system from another generation. Actually, nothing is new nor original. We’ll arrive at a point where you won’t be able to say “hello” because you would be violating the authority rights of some poor creative human who had seen the light and during that process of inspiration decided to patent the word. And they are trying to appear to be moral in that way. It is not just ridiculous; it is such an offense.

  125. David BLAIR NEW

    Reading on Archive.org can get the young of the world into books and they will be the later buyers to keep the literary system alive
    .

  126. W.Wazi

    Corporate Greed will never stop its vile pursuit of monetizing every corner of the internet and the I.A. appears to be an easy target. I can think of no other website providing an equivalent worldwide public service.
    It would be helpful to know the names of the 4 publishing companies bringing this suit against I.A. so that I may personally contact them and join a hopefully worldwide boycott of their publications. Write their names!
    This aggression against human knowledge and freedom will not stand!

  127. ejonesss

    is this isolated to just books so the wayback machine and ftp boneyard is not under threat?

  128. NTx

    I absolutely DO NOT support IA. The website has gone to hell over the years and is more and more impossible to use. It is not “platform friendly.” It is extremely bloated with unnecessary javascript. The wayback machine never works and has not worked in years. The screen blanks out anytime you try to enter a web address to look up.

    And to look up any data/files in the archive is an absolute nightmare compared with how the classic version of your website once worked. It is pretty much impossible to use. Worst yet, you have endless scrolling, which is further evidence of how user-unfriendly your website is. For, the more you scroll, then the more RAM and CPU it takes to run the search. Endless scrolling is by far the most idiotic thing ever put on the internet. And the way to “control” searches is a total nightmare to use. Really, it is websites like yours that have made the internet pretty much impossible, useless and obsolete nowadays.

    Once upon a time, this was a decent website with a decent user interface (classic version), simple and practical. Why save or archive information, when the technology you are using today is extremely inferior to the technology that you used a few years ago? Nowadays on the internet, newer is almost never better. The word “upgrade” literally means “web developer’s ego is out of control and out to destroy the website. Instead, web developers, like the idiots that have destroyed your website, are all about their egos, not your visitors or their experience in using your website.

    So until IA goes back to a more functional and user-friendly website, I hope you guys go out of business. You are a waste of my time. Its about time someone sued you or is trying to put you out of business.

    IA web developers = absolute idiots!

  129. S. Gilbert

    I walked into the city public library and noticed a sign inviting input for new acquisitions. I filled out a request for : The Ecclesiastical History of Orderic Vitalis in 6 volumes, edited and translated into English Language by M. Chibnall (Oxford Press, 1969-1980). It is expensive, $300/volume x 6. I was informed that the likelihood of this was more none than slim, due to the price of the series. I then browsed the shelves. Shelf after shelf of ephemeral pop culture consumer entertainment filler books and DVDs on offer; little to nothing that could nourish the soul, broaden the mind, and example human character for the education and edification in time spent – How sad that a mental summing up of the cost to the taxpayer for “garbage in, garbage out” filler on those shelves would have several times over purchased an acquisition that would have been able to open eyes and minds regarding their own civilization’s formation, as the work is a history and social history of much of western civilization, not simply church history. Yes, the price of the afore mentioned series is, sadly, prohibitive for most; but, not kept from us, if we have a real library via the likes of Internet Archives that can afford the many the opportunity to touch what ordinarily is out of our individual reaches. Thank you for existing and opening doors of education to those who crave knowledge and understanding that otherwise would be beyond our access. You are a brain trust for those of us whose “accident of birth” had not provided us with the proverbial “silver spoon” access to the closed off university libraries so full of good books we might only dream of being able to read in this life.

  130. Iron Curtain

    Whoever commented that what the publishers are doing is akin to the burning of the Library of Alexandria is exactly right! The Internet Archive is far too valuable a website to the infrastructure of the internet to go away, and the last thing I want is all the knowledge that this library (and yes, it is a library) brings with it.

    By putting short-term profits over public knowledge, these corporate publishers are absolute monsters.

  131. Robert C Michaels

    I have been a $-contributor for years. You provide an inestimable service to scholars, students, and others in pursuit of knowledge, a good read or watching an old Charlie Chaplin comedy film, not to overlook film students. I believe in access to data by all – that is the true purpose of the internet. We must not allow those who place a price on human knowledge to control who has access. May this idiotic suit blow up in the faces of those behind it. It is clear to me they would keep the majority ignorant to aggrandize themselves. Peace to all who read this.

  132. Crazy

    Quiero que archive.org viva y no quiero que esto muera. He estado usando Internet Arcive durante años solo para descargar cosas y hacer una copia de seguridad en mi FlashDrive. Apoyo la Biblioteca de Internet. ¡Muchos archivos descargables son MUY DIFÍCILES de encontrar hoy en día, como juegos y software! Si Internet Archive se cierra, voy a estar tan enojado. Por favor, soy un hombre autista de 31 años y Internet Archive es mi vida. ¡¡Estoy en contra de la censura!! ¡¡Viva archive.org!! ¡VIVA LA LIBERTAD!!! VIVA LA PRIMERA ENMIENDA!!! LARGA VIDA A LA BIBLIOTECA ABIERTA!!! ESPERO QUE INTERNET ARCHIVE GANE EN LOS TRIBUNALES!!!

  133. Sean Morse

    There is no better repository for rare, out-of-print books than the internet archive. I am putting my full support behind them and am wishing them success.

  134. Ojen Amini (Ojohn)

    Thanks for keeping the voice of Logic and Compassion alive and preserving the truth for the future generations.

    Best of Luck,

    Ojen Amini (Ojohn)
    Rights and Environmental Intellectual and Activist

    SentientAssistant.com

    3-19-2023

  135. Copyright Owner

    [I do not understand why the IA did not bother to post this earlier Sunday!]

    As owner of my Copyrights, including being the creator and author, I recently came to the Internet Achieve to deposit some of my works that are now 20 or more years old so society can enjoy it.

    Since I am not making any money on my work being this old, most of what I have done is of historic importance.

    I also put in the description that my work is for personal, in-home viewing, and prohibit any commercial use or sales.

    Now we have publishers who claim they are loosing “revenue” or rights by having works put on the Internet Archive that are 20 or more years old. I understand the Copyright claim, but they were NOT making any profits from old, out of print publications.

    There are people who no longer utilize a local public library, and this is partly due to corporations wanting practically everything to be on the Internet so they can save in costs yet claiming they are “green.”

    Getting back to the issue here, as long as people do not sell our Copyrighted material, there is no harm in having our works out in the public. Any and all rights still are authors and not public domain.

    There is a lot of material on the Achieve that is public domain because material was not properly registered or the duration of the copyright expired. In addition, there is also material from defunct companies or businesses, and the rights were never transferred.

    As an author and Copyright holder I understand both sides, but all this fuss or commotion is about control. It is not about the few dollars of revenue that might be realized decades later even if they make such a claim.

    The Internet Achieve is a historic repository. If it were to be disbanded or shuttered, so much history will be lost forever. History and the past is how we learn.

    Are these same plaintiffs going after Google? Google digitizes books, magazines, and other copyrighted material all the time, yet states that the Copyright is still the author’s.

    The United States of America was founded on freedom of thought. The Internet Achieve is just that, a resource so humanity can learn, and enjoy works from fellow human beings.

  136. Crazy

    I’m just going to say that I support the Internet Archive. I am a 31 year old autistic man (yes it’s for real) and I’ve been using this site just to download files that are hard to find. I support the internet library. If the Internet Archive gets shut down, I’m gonna be so mad. I hope the Internet Archive wins in court.

    Cheers!

  137. Jenni Higgins

    I love this library. It has allowed me to get back to my love of reading. It would be a tremendous loss if this library were to cease.

  138. Jenni

    I fully support the Internet Archive as a lifelong library supporter. The lawsuit is stupid and tramples on progress for a library just doing it’s job.

  139. Alejo

    El unico lugar donde puedo leer :

    revistas de los 80s.

    Manuales de computadoras de los 70s.

    Diarios de los 50s.

    Porque hay gente que parese tener, como unico proposito, molestar a los demas.

  140. John Mark Heumann

    I support the Internet Archive. It gives me access to books, movies, radio, records–all sorts of stuff that I may find difficult to access otherwise. Physical libraries are fine, but they are limited to a degree that the Internet Archive is not. Right now, my friends (the Geezers) and I are studying the creative output of Henry Thomas, African American composer and performer from right here in Texas. He recorded 23 78-rpm records for Vocalion-Brunswick, and I can access them on Internet Archive, no where else. Crushing Internet Archive will benefit the publishers very little, but it will damage the public a lot.

  141. Emmantheblader

    INTERNET ARCHIVE IS THE BESTTTTTTTTT I FULLY SUPPORT INTERNET ARCHIVE YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

  142. Sweet_reads

    Internet archive is the library of the future allowing to peer into the past from online portals, with a wealth of information at our finger tips. A vast trove of material would become inaccessible without this great resource. Please keep internet archive open. If you have to remove a few later titles so be it, but keep the older books which chances are no one is making money on anyway. What’s the difference between this and a real library? A book on here can only be borrowed by one person at a time. The only difference is ease of access to the library. Should we cut off the disabled, the introverts, the poor and those without access to a physical library?

  143. Rosetta Reed

    Open Library is important to many of us older people .
    I love reading in my own home in comfort .So many books for every interest
    I use Open Library every day .I am 73 years old

  144. Chris J

    This website is an invaluable resource. I enjoy browsing and learning a lot from the resources that they provide. Praying that IA, is able to continue blessing the world with a plethora of knowledge.

  145. Stephen

    I stand with Internet Archive. You have been good to me during the pandemic and beyond! History and your must be preserved!

  146. Aiden Lee

    I SUPPORT INTERNET ARCHIVE!
    INTERNET ARCHIVE IS A “DEMOCRATIC LIBRARY”!
    IT IS A SYMBOL OF DEMOCRACY!

  147. Jaya

    We, people all around of the world, need this website since if physical books destroyed by any accident we can still have have a digital copy. This website in line with the vision of US Constitution.

  148. Ellis Rogers-Archer

    We need this site to gather vital information and archived websites from this library in order to do our research for projects and wikis. Since new versions of websites have taken most a lot of info and features from previous versions, we will need the libraries and Internet Archive more than anything.

  149. Books for the whole world

    Your work is awesome, friends. Keep fighting. If you get blocked in the USA, just relocate.

    -Most of the world does not have libraries and much of the world does not have access to the financial infrastructure (credit cards) and the high prices of ebooks or print books. OpenLibrary empowers the whole world

    -Most of the libraries in the USA keep only new books. OpenLibrary keeps out of print books available forever

    -Most libraries tend to buy print and app resources for their ideology or widely accepted ideologies. There is a general bias against religious resources for all religions. For example, there are very few Christian resources included even in places where there is a large percentage of Christians. OpenLibrary allows all kinds of books to be included.

  150. Rhiannon crim

    I just found this site and I love it. It is a valuable resource for everyone and should be expanded, preserved and above all protected.

  151. 臺灣臺北地方法院刑事裁定 99年度聲判字第235號

    Go on! Support from a Chinese American guy!

  152. Amy

    Internet Archive is an incredibly important site. I use it every day. I hope it stays around forever!

    The joy when I look up a book here and find that Internet Archive has it! My tastes are not in the mainstream, and there have been many times when Internet Archive has been the best option for accessing books I want to read. I have an out of state membership with the Brooklyn Public Library, and even though they have a wonderful selection of books, there are many books I’m interested in which the library doesn’t have but Internet Archive does have.

    I am so grateful for Internet Archive. Thank you for all the wonderful content!

  153. Lorel

    Archive.org is CRUCIAL for me to do research. I currently live in Japan and have no access to good libraries that have resources I NEED for research. I stand with Archive.org and other digital libraries.

  154. Markus Heidick

    The Internet Archive – Archive.org is one of the most importent things that the mankind needs.
    Information, knowledge and history is essential for the human evolution.
    If one thing is missing, the human being is damaged in his development.
    Keep going the great Idea.

  155. Ellie

    I stand with Internet Archive. I have discovered many books that I wouldn’t have known otherwise. Books from beyond my time of existence, books that are 100 of age full of wits and quirks of its own time. I am grateful for the digital library for being my source of entertainment, expanding my own cultural and historical knowledge sphere.

  156. Faith

    I support the IA and It’s honestly my favorite site. Question, If they lose, will they be forced only to remove the books or will the entire site go down?

  157. Maurice Gravelle

    I absolutely LOVE this library and appreciate all the HARD WORK you do!!!

    I am way behind all of you 100%!!!!!!

  158. KMC

    I’m a librarian, and the number of times I have used, recommended, and referred others to IA is uncountable. During lockdown, I discovered and rediscovered a staggering amount of materials that have elevated who I am as a professional and extended the limits of service that I can provide to others. I am not the only person who experienced a story/book/old DOS or Apple II program as a child and found it at IA again with new wonder and joy. Additionally, I’m not the only professional to find the text I had as a student that introduced me to the ideas and character that inhabit, animate, and continually improve me.
    To lose IA to corporate greed and politics – and it would be these two, regardless of how it might happen – would be tantamount to imposing an IQ limit, period. It would also show the true intent and alignment of law, corporations, and governance in the US, whose words and deeds continue to reject any notion of common good.
    Ever read “The Giver” by Lois Lowry? You can borrow and read it at IA. It might just spark an idea, and that’s the most consuming fire of all.

  159. Gala

    I strongly Love Internet Archive. It is so hard work to sort out so many books. Some of them cannot be found anywhere. This library is a treasure for everybody who loves reading books. Not everyone can afford to buy books nowadays.
    I am behind all of You .
    Internet archive is a must .

  160. Nicole

    Internet Archive has helped me complete research, given my homeschooling 17 year old access to books that I have difficulty finding at my local library, out of print books that I cannot get anywhere else, international content to help me learn languages and read authors not available to me in the states. Internet Archive is just like a public library, I do not understand how the government thinks this goes against copyright. I still buy books, I enjoy holding a book when I read, but sometimes not everything I want to read is at my library. I have gotten to read past issues of newspapers from the 18oo’s!!! It was amazing to learn new words that I have never been exposed to! Internet Archive is a platform that can educate us, filling in the gaps.

  161. Damion

    This is one of the great creations in all human history! It would be a travesty — and tragedy — for it to end because of antiquated legal theory.

  162. Aurora

    I don’t understand why anyone would want to file a lawsuit against Internet Archive. Me personally I love to read books from here and learn and use it help with schoolwork and it’s the best and I wish you guys so much luck and I really hope we win because Internet Archive is the best. ~A Student

  163. Timmy Robinson

    freedom of information act should cover old media and used for educational purposes if you can
    add info about these archived medias. rights of fair use to use these media for educational purposes too.
    it is also key as a back-up for all that has been uploaded. maybe add history of how made, ratings on old,
    and other various details to add to the site for each thing added to show it is for archival and
    educational information. this is important, it is all about the law. it doesn’t matter how we feel about
    it as much as the law itself. you have to show this site is an archival site and isn’t there for piracy.
    the afore mentioned info could help. look into laws like educational, fair use, and such to keep this
    great site open and save face. show that this site has unique data like Unus Annus and antiquities. some are being claimed public domain when they aren’t so change it to (c) with educational
    value to them by offering timelines, production date, type (cgi, hand drawn animation), and more. Archiving is an important part of history and there must be an archive to keep it for future generations.

    If the worst happens, request to alter the site to keep copyright material locked until it becomes public domain that way it can be accessed later or something of the like.

  164. Guy Sheffer

    Let us not forget that the internet was adopted by goverments and academia to be the means to connect all of humanity, no matter where, to all human knowladge 24/7.  The very thing the internet archive is doing. That copyright and the large companies that are taking over are just grew as a by product.

  165. Karen

    I stand behind Internet Archive 100%. It’s a tremendous service to all of us, especially to those with disabilities. I use it every day in all its richness!

  166. VIRGINIA MICHELI

    God knows I support the Internet Archives, and I hope they win this case, but I am not sanguine. Let us suppose that an entity purchased a book, copied it physically, and made those physical copies available to all, free of charge – I am pretty sure that would not be fair use.

  167. Allen

    The Internet Archive is a lifeline of knowledge and culture that reaches from the Northeast US megalopolis into the most remote corners of the planet, open to anyone with an internet connection and a desire to learn.

  168. Eric Ohlson

    Knowledge and culture should be free and accessible. I wholly support Internet Archive.

  169. Djaafar Messaoudi

    This site is very very very interesting for all those who want to get or spread knowledge, so I wish it would be alive for so many years ahead. I stand with you.

  170. Saeed qureshi

    I belong to Pakistan . And I swear that the books were not available to me in my country. Even if they were books from my own region, they had disappeared. I was provided by this library.Rather, many major book printing government institutions of Pakistan have printed 400 years old books using the same library. So I would request the court not to disturb this great treasure of books, videos, lectures and other materials for books, education, awareness raising in third world countries.It is not just a library but a lifeline for people like us in backward countries. This important treasure encourages us to go along with the third world countries and beautify this globe together with them instead of conservatively criticizing the modern countries. Very Many thanks, Saeed Sadhu, (poet, writer, researcher, critic, scholar)

  171. Skin

    The Internet Archive is as important as a physical museum. A lot of work and time has been put in to make sure that a giant part of human history (our first steps of interconnection throughout the world) has been conserved for the next generation to view. The very same reason why books exist in the first place is also the reason why the IA exists – to record and preserve information, so it’s very counterproductive and ironic that this lawsuit should take place a the very same time as books becoming an obsolete format to do so. The Internet Archive makes sure that art and education are available to EVERYONE, as it’s meant to be, as enjoying art and education should not be a privilege but a right.

  172. Alexander Pruss

    I wonder what the case law on a library lending one photocopy of a book too valuable to lend the original would be? It seems to me (who am not a lawyer) that it should be exactly the same decision as for what Open Library is doing.

    I’ve also been musing on this sequence of cases:
    1. A library letting you look through a plate glass window at a valuable book, with a robotic page turner.
    2. Same as 1, but instead of plate glass, there is a screen on the patron side and a camera on the book side.
    3. Same as 2, but the connection between camera and screen is run over tcp/ip over very long cables owned by the library.
    4. Same as 3, but the cables are not owned by the library.
    5. Same as 4, but images are cached for future users.
    🙂

  173. L Sheffer

    I support internet archive. Essential when local libraries and book stores do not have the book!
    Also, when weather is bad, during times like covid, flu season, etc. And great for those of us who cannot drive or easily get books delivered to home.

  174. Jerry Taintor

    I think that archive.org is an invaluable service for all researchers. Thanks for being there.

  175. Martin

    Publishers are in the centre of the book world so they should be excussed for loosing sight of what happens at the edges; and how important the edges are to there business. After all, by the time the edges reach them, the centre has moved and there are new edges. I suggest they talk to people from their industry, who are about to retire, to get an understanding of how ther industry changes and why the future is at the edge.

    I have lived close to some of the edges in my time and I would say that the absence of a viable lending library is exclusion from common culture. Discrimination for profit? So the Archive has an important role to play.

    The publishers assert that they are loosing income because of the Archive. My experience is the opposite and in fact they should be paying the archive for information about readership (not the people but the interests) to understand new markets that they are ignoring and would continue to ignore if they insist that the centre does not move.

    Why do I say this. Well, without libraries my children would know few authors. Its where they discovered engaging authors that there was no money to engage with otherwise. Its exactly why they buy books now. So removing the Archive reduces the ability of people to expand their apitite for books Reducing exposure to books will reduce conventional sales, perhaps not now but certainly in the future.
    Or put another way: preventing people from accessing your product (paid or otherwise) is bad for business in the long term. Its why Bowls is now a sport of interest that competes with football for audience in the UK. You had to pay to watch football so their market was damaged by a reduction in future participants.
    I guess the Publishers are represented by people that think in the short term; from one performance review to the next. So its not surprising they loose sight of the long term. I doubt their share holders would be impressed by their arguments, however, which amounts to:
    ‘I want a bigger bonus this year because I made sales go up by destroying your business.’
    LOL

  176. Anonymous

    I don’t want books to be obsolete, but I am extremely grateful to be able to read things that aren’t available elsewhere or can’t currently afford. As a student of hard-to-get women’s lit, being able to access rare, sometimes foreign, books for free is priceless! On the other hand, I get that times are hard for the book industry – perhaps they could make available very hard-to-get/out-of-copyright books as a compromise?

  177. Adam Kahn

    I totally support Internet Archive. This amazing and incredible source preserves and publishes absolutely unique books, videos, and other informational materials, that are impossible to find anywhere else!
    This shameful lawsuit against Internet Archive has nothing to do with “copyrights”, nor with money of filthy-wealthy big publishers, in actuality it is a clearly visible (Marxist-Zionist) attempt TO CENSOR THE TRUTH.
    Internet Archive must survive and continue its work which is so crucially important for Humanity! Internet Archive must live by any means with no limitations. World Wide Web (the Internet) is big enough to keep Internet Archive online, and it must be done!
    TRUTH AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND INFORMATION ARE ABOVE ANY MAN-MADE LAW.
    Remember, there is a short step from banning books to GULAG death camps for authors. Resist!! Fight for the Future!

  178. Emil Dagsberg

    I support Internet Archive.
    Essential for the preservation of information, I don’t understand why this is even in court, what’s the discussion?
    We need this site, what’s the supposed crime? Sharing information?
    I thought the internet was free, just as speech is.

  179. Thomas the Hopeful

    I have seen that the internet archive seems to do it’s best to avoid current copy right infringement, but allows free access to those world wide of items that are past copy right, never had copy right, or items that have past into the realm of the unclaimed. Though there may have been some items that have gotten past their attention, what do you expect from a free service. The idea is if something is not allowed to be shared, contact them so they can remedy the situation. But honestly, it’s about control and money, and if they can’t get one, they want the other. Yet, if it’s money they want, allow the archive to share the first chapter or two, or a preview, and then give a link to access how to purchase the rest of the book, or whatever. That way, I believe, though it’s not a perfect solution, it will give a balanced solution. Those who are too poor to purchase whatever it is, will just have to go without or combine efforts and money with someone else and share in person the results. I believe in supporting the film and publishing and music industry, but sometimes it would be nice if they realized some people out there in the world have no other access to what they are selling, either by lack of funds, or limited access in their country. I don’t think most of those who started out in the film, publishing, or music business originally did it to get rich, maybe some did. The question is, how do they want to be remembered after they are gone? As a person who made something that touched millions of lives, or someone that was well off when they died for something only a few remember and may soon be forgotten entirely? I get both sides of the argument, because the industries can’t keep bringing us this stuff if they are broke. It’s a balance, so the real question is, how much is enough and who can we let it slide for? Libraries are keepers of knowledge, entertainment, and news. It brought access to those who couldn’t buy the same stuff that others could for the last 100+ years. It is the same with Museums and Zoos that used to be affordable or free, and now, kids are not educated to the same level they used to be because it’s cheaper and easier to stick them on a smart phone and ignore them. Families and Societies are degenerating, and greed and selfish desire is the beginning of it. Southern California is the perfect example of that, where they have a water crisis, but land is considered too valuable for a desalinization plants or water reservoirs, yet they waste millions in their annual budget. Good luck, and God Bless.. I hope everyone walks away from this whole thing equally satisfied that a balance has been made.

  180. Harriet T.

    “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot
    stamping on a human face – for ever.”
    ( George Orwell, 1984 )

    A view from Europe.

    I’m a champion of the Internet Archive and use it a lot.

    I’m regularly the first to “Save Page..” on sites across a wide range of disciplines and topics, probably dozens of times every week. Since years back. Indeed, certain odious “management types” of a certain ubiquitous mindset would no doubt be loving how my (and others’) volunteer activities have been making your “brand” more valuable and their career-prospects all the better.

    Still, thinking bigger, Archives are important for the progress of Civilisation, hence my voluntary participation.

    I’m also long-since personally aware of the regressive changes in academic publishing and collaboration over the years, and I well know the reasons and culprits.

    Public Libraries always were about the Public Good, about free and open Access for all.

    “@chrisfreeland” rightly encourages us to fight for this Public Good.

    “Fight” indeed, for it’s a war.

    ‘Lawfare’

    Using sympathetic courts as a strategic weapon.

    There are those who want to empower others, and there are those who want to enslave and exploit others. Simple as that. Those who want to increase Freedoms, and those who try to reduce and restrict (usually for reasons of partisan advantage and/or beliefs). It replays endlessly across places and times.

    Prey vs predator, victim vs abuser, liberator vs oppressor.

    Your blue banner lured me here to this page. It’s a topic which matters. So it’s vital to remind other similarly-clicking visitors that THIS COURT CASE IS NOT IN A VACUUM, not out of the blue.

    I’ll repeat, this threat is not in a vacuum. There’s a CONTEXT.

    Each link-clicking page-visitor, with the discovery/realisation that something good, something they use and love, is in existential danger, presents an opportunity to enlighten those willing to read it.

    “Truth to Power”

    Speaking “Truth to Power” is a long-identified problem, but some of us, a tiny minority, are willing to say “the Emperor has no clothes.” Foucault referred to various “discourses” but I prefer the term “Narrative.”

    As a well-educated and brighter-than-average European I look with dismay at so much of what we see going on there, “across the pond.” Dismay because, not least, it has the unpleasant tendency to spread elsewhere. Beliefs and behaviours, systems and outcomes.

    It’s difficult or impossible to truly change the minds of those who do not want it, or are below the necessary intellectual threshold to comprehend. Try teaching your dog Algebra. Try endorsing Galileo in 1630s Italy. Try telling the 1850s Deep South that negroes are not actually Property.

    Try also telling a 21st-century American that the embodiments of Knowledge (digital or otherwise) are not ethically-legitimate “Property” either.

    Ouch! Raw nerve much?

    You see the problem.

    Famously: “First they came for… but I was not a… so I said nothing…”

    And now suddenly the malign forces are coming after you, IA, weaponising their courts.

    Some of us see exactly the PATTERN PLAYING OUT. We see whose beliefs, whose practices.

    Worth noting, the recent Roe v Wade reversal shows how fickle your beloved U.S. Courts system is for protecting Rights and Freedoms.

    “Intellectual Property” is partisan Dogma/Credo, contested and controversial, not universally accepted.

    These courtroom shenanigans have a Context.

    And other “public good” sharers of Access To Knowledge have been in the cross-hairs too.

    These are just the latest skirmishes in the centuries-old battle for dominance by the Enclosers and Abusers, the Privatising Profiteers, the Extractive-Economics Rentiers.

    “They flogged or hanged the man or woman
    Who stole a goose from off The Common,
    But left the greater villain loose,
    Who stole The Common from the goose.”
    ( English traditional )

    “Knowledge” is a treasury for all. Or should be.

    But monopolising and weaponising assets for partisan gain has a long ugly history.

    First: the Land.

    It’s no longer the indigenous “First Peoples” in control of the resource-rich life-sustaining big landscapes. Not in Britain, not in the U.S.A., not in Australia, not in Brazil.

    The current elites now “own” the mass acres because of historical massacres.

    Keep saying that: mass acres because massacres.

    It sets the tone.

    Minority control of hoarded excess, underwritten by violence.

    “I own the land, all the water, all the food, all the timber, all the oil… you need some, you give me whatever price I demand. All mine, none yours. Pay up, or freeze and starve.”

    They despise The Commons.

    “All mine, none yours” is a binary, absolutist, extremist position.

    But the hegemony deems that particular extremism to be okay. Funny that.

    People need food therefore “Cash-Crops” are what fills those mass acres.

    People need homes therefore “Rents” appeared.

    Voxel-world gamers know the mechanics: water, calories, timber, minerals…

    Likewise every Real-World life-sustaining resource-chain starts with Land too.

    Acres bathed in Sunlight – that’s where Photosynthesis-for-Free happens.

    And why Land was the first to be “Privatised” for partisan profiteering.

    THAT is the foundation on which cash-based rentier economics is built.

    Because people NEED what Land supplies. Hence violent privatisation long ago.

    Harsh? Rabble-rousing? No!

    It correctly sets the tone, the ruthless ugly Context to this court case.

    Because IT’S THE SAME MINDSET TRIBE GUNNING FOR THE DIGITAL COMMONS.

    Land’s riches were “grabbed” years ago.

    So-called I.P. is the current goldrush frontier.

    Because Humanity 2.0 is as vulnerably dependent on “Knowledge” as our forebears on Land.

    These publishers are by-credo privatising profiteers, self-serving ideological-extremists.

    “Profitable Slavery”

    More to consider in this character analysis…

    We know which demographic on which continent most benefited from violently enslaved labour.

    But it wasn’t the slaves, eventually freed from shackles, who were given compensation and reparations following “Abolition” but instead it was the former “owners” who were paid!

    Notions of “entitlement” to “own” whatever they declare to be “Property” runs deep in their veins.

    Vast acreages, women, children, negroes, animals… all variously “legal Property” assets and chattels – just name your latitude/longitude and year!

    I reference this unapologetically, for that IS the tone, the brutal abusive Context.

    It’s in the DNA of these Types.

    Anti-freedom belivers in Property and Profit.

    They are the tribe jockeying to “own” the 21st century Digital Plantations and those toiling therein.

    Yet nowhere is their Narrative being challenged effectively.

    What “can” be owned? What “should” be owned? And by whom?

    Plenty of “Useful Idiots” cheerlead for systems founded on Abuse.

    The cowardly appeasers and apologists chasing a quiet life who shrug and say “well, it’s legal” are oh-so-reminiscent of a rather discredited demographic known for the phrase “just following orders” not far from here and not that long ago.

    “Legal/Illegal” is little more than the formally-proclaimed demands of the local elites-du-jour.

    Consider how the U.S. sees the I.C.C.

    “The Law” is whatever the power-games spew forth and can impose.

    THIS IS THE REAL CONTEXT of this tribe’s keenness to jump into courtrooms.

    It’s THEIR system, long-since engineered by them, and for them, to produce certain outcomes.

    You will not find the progress of Civilisation or Justice in America’s courts, just rich lawyers serving their even richer masters, in front of judges who are neither disinterested nor apolitical and impartial. (BTW, for the uneducated, disinterested means having no vested interests.)

    As I said, learn from Roe.v.Wade.

    Show me a U.S. judge who isn’t wealthily embedded and steeped in The System, and who isn’t a devoted True Believer in the hegemonic privatising rentier-capitalist property/cash/markets narrative, and I’ll let you see my flying pig.

    Going to Courts you’re joining a game where they’ve already “stacked the deck.”

    Your Internet Archives are like the 17th-century English Diggers’ crop-growing cultivated plots, an existential challenge to the beliefs and vested interests of the powerful.

    Sorry to be the Jeremiah.

    This attempt to restrict and destroy the Internet Archive digital library is set in that very ugly very brutal very rigged power-games historical context.

    “Arc Of History”

    Unfortunately the arc of history proves to be on their side.

    The aggressors win. The privatisers win. The exploiters win. The abusers win. The polluters win.

    Bribes and weapons and goons make sure they win.

    Legislators in corporate pockets. Political appointments to judiciaries.

    Plus ultimately the divide-and-rule principle of the tycoon: “I can hire half the working class to destroy the other half.”

    Land and its riches was “all sewn up” for them years ago.

    So now this is the current arena for their viral, metastatic cancerous takeover. This so-called “Intellectual Property” bandwagon.

    Typical goldrush mentality all over again.

    Go look at old newsreel footage of the William Buckleys, Ayn Rands, and myriad tycoons. Identity politics laid bare. True extremists. An ugly deadly game that strokes their egos and fills their vaults.

    There’s a particularly unpleasant and dangerously blinkered selfishness.

    Look at the American money-crowd. We’re up against sociopaths, predators.

    They really do see others as prey.

    Remember, who had whom in chains and shackles?

    This, along with the dangerously deluded beliefs inherent in their right-wing religious fundamentalism, it’s a toxic streak in the American national DNA, running through them like the lettering in a stick of Blackpool rock.

    It’s no surprise to me this tribe has turned on your Library.

    They despise The Commons.

    ‘Lawfare’

    They’ve been using sympathetic courts as a strategic weapon against others.

    Now they’re turning on you too.

    This Rent-seeking tribe is extending and imposing their self-serving world-view and behavioural-control everywhere they can, even extra-territorially, well beyond their local borders.

    Witness the recent fate of the zlib b-ok.cc freedom-fighters.

    It’s worrying, how far the U.S. extra-territorial tentacles stretch round the planet.

    Courtroom echo-chamber antics merely reinforce their delusion of “American Exceptionalism” as they entrench and extend their partisan vested interests.

    Globally, plenty of us are sick of it.

    They are just as tribal and ideologically-extremist as any ISIS leader, these bandwagon-riding practitioners and (especially-American-right-wing) cheerleaders of so-called ‘Intellectual Property.’

    And they’re waging this campaign of ‘Lawfare’ – ever more jackboot-assisted – using their secretly-negotiated trade-deals and rigged-game Courtrooms.

    AND. THAT.

    IS. THE. CONTEXT.

    TO. THIS. COURT. CASE.

    Sorry.

    I really do wish you well in their Courts.

    But don’t get your hopes up…

  181. Average Joe

    It is hard to believe that such lawsuit is happening right now. Why copyright holders have such unlimited power in US courts-they destroy websites all the time without remorse with their absurd claims? The judicial system in my country sucks very bad but the US system is also getting worse recently, I’m shocked to read the news here.
    I support the Internet Archive in their war for freedom against the copyright Mafia. I hope some protest will be started very soon against the publishers who started this criminal lawsuit! Best wishes to all team members of Internet Archive, we believe in you and the work you do makes the world a better place!

  182. Mike

    I hope yesterday’s argument was successful. Money makes people do strange things, and cases like this make me worry that I might one day have to pay Craftsman every time I use my hammer to build or fix something at home.

  183. M. A. S.

    I hope yesterday’s argument was successful. Money makes people do strange things, and cases like this make me worry that I might one day have to pay Craftsman every time I use my hammer to build or fix something at home.

  184. Dr. James Stewart

    I am rather more interested in the books a copy of which I can keep on my system, particularly the older works prior to 1800 which many libraries do not allow to be checked out. I also much appreciate many of the newer books that are marked as read only, some of which have retail prices far beyond my limited budget. This is a fine archive which.
    If any change is needed it is only to expand the read only check out system so that more publications can be added.

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