Today, the Internet Archive has submitted its appeal [PDF] in Hachette v. Internet Archive. As we stated when the decision was handed down in March, we believe the lower court made errors in facts and law, so we are fighting on in the face of great challenges. We know this won’t be easy, but it’s a necessary fight if we want library collections to survive in the digital age.
Statement from Brewster Kahle, founder and digital librarian of the Internet Archive:
“Libraries are under attack like never before. The core values and library functions of preservation and access, equal opportunity, and universal education are being threatened by book bans, budget cuts, onerous licensing schemes, and now by this harmful lawsuit. We are counting on the appellate judges to support libraries and our longstanding and widespread library practices in the digital age. Now is the time to stand up for libraries.”
We will share more information about the appeal as it progresses.
To support our ongoing efforts, please donate as we continue this fight!
the archive must lose to save us from its opinion of licensing agreements -a lesser archive!
Bravo, Brewster. Chris and IA Heroes!
As retired university professors and active independent scholars, my research partner and I rely on the IA and Open Library (OL) every day. Controlled Digital Lending is crucial not only to the IA, but to all libraries in the digital age, including our small-town local one. As long as IA is willing to fight, we stand ready to support, modest as our fixed-income cash contributions may be.
p.a.: More than one of our now-unavailable out-of-print books are available via IA and OL. This make us very proud.
Let’s cut the losses and win this Appeal please Chris Freeland.
I’d like to participate
Libraries are taking a beating that it does not deserve. Win this Appeal please Chris Freeland.
Karma will come back to Judge Koeltl for ruining Archive.org
Capitalist swine will not sully my favorite rabbit hole!
Plz win this fight for all of us.
special thanks for this post
It is CRUCIAL to completely boycott those Publishing Houses that are behind actions against international archives and libraries like the Internet Archive.
I am a writer and artist of no mean merit myself. When I speak on social media, half a million people listen to my words.
And, BEING A WRITER, I say that these legal actions by publishing houses ARE AGAINST THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE HUMAN RACE.
They must be resisted, just as all infringements of human freedom must be resisted. The best way of doing this is to seriously degrade the PROFITS of these publishing houses. Boycott them, push them out of business as a penalty for infringing upon our freedoms, and our freedoms will be returned to us.
In short… readers of the world, UNITE!
Agreed! I used to buy adult coloring books by Hachette. Never again! Part of me wants to throw them out now, but I already did give Hachette money either way. I will never buy a product from any of those publishers again. If I really want a book, I will get it second hand, even if it means waiting a few months I get most of my books second hand anyway).
They whine and cry about piracy but they are basically encouraging it at this point. Becoming greedier and greedier is NOT the way to maximize profit. Piracy went down when legal streaming first became popular and is up again now that everyone wants a piece of the pie and there are five million streaming platforms. When will they ever learn that their greed doesn’t make people want to spend money on their products?
Just to play Devil’s Advocate, is there a realistic chance of winning on appeal? I’m aware that a lot of the Internet Archive’s funds have already gone in fighting the first case and in the payment to the plaintiffs after the first verdict. I would like to check that we’re not throwing good money after bad here and ask whether there are other things in the Internet Archive that would benefit more from the donations.
What is the fate of the majority of books in the borrow section? I have noticed that more than 60 percent of the titles on my list have been removed.
I find it shocking that some people are really suggesting that you make ALL books preview only. A lot of these books are out of print. Unless you somehow get a hold of a used copy, you just can’t get these books. Making everything preview only would basically tell them that they can deny access to something they do not even bother to sell physical or digital copies of. That is like a spoiled child saying “I don’t want it anymore, but nobody else can have it either”.
The music, publishing and film industries cry you a river over piracy but they are just plain asking for it at this point. “But it’s STEALING” the minions will say…meanwhile, they keep stealing from us as well as the artists and authors.