What the Internet Archive case in the U.S. means for digital book-lending

Sub: Sci

Sec: Awareness in IT, COMPUTER

Context:

In the Hachette Book Group, Inc. v. Internet Archive case, publishers had alleged that Internet Archive violated their copyrights and illegally made their books available to the public.
The court had ruled in favour of publishers in a 2023 ruling. IA was forced to remove over half a million books from its database.

About Internet Archive (IA):

It is a US-based Non-profit organization that provides a digital library with free access to digitized content for anyone with internet access.
It has digitally archived over 835 billion web pages, 44 million books, and texts.
Content includes audio recordings, videos, images, and software programs.
Access to digitized books varies based on the type of user.
- For example, persons with disabilities can get access to the full text of books that might be still under copyright protection, while others may generally get only a short preview of the book.

Techno-legal Experiments by IA:

Controlled Digital Lending (CDL):
- Lending digitized books on a 1:1 owned-to-loaned ratio, similar to physical libraries.
- Maximum number of books available for lending corresponds to physical copies owned by IA or partner libraries.
National Emergency Library (during COVID-19):
- Liberalized lending policy for less than three months.
- Legal action was initiated by publishers for copyright violations (Hachette Book Group, Inc. v. Internet Archive).

Court ruling:

In the Hachette Book Group, Inc. v. Internet Archive case, publishers had alleged that Internet Archive violated their copyrights.
IA argued CDL falls under ‘fair use’ of U.S. copyright law and that that CDL had negligible impact on book sales.
However, Courts ruled that CDL does not qualify for ‘fair use’ and asked IA to remove copyrighted content.
The court also opined that if IA’s practices were to become unrestricted and widespread, they would annihilate publishers’ markets across formats.

Fair Use Doctrine:

The fair use doctrine is a legal principle in the United States that allows limited use of copyrighted material without the copyright owner’s permission.

Implications of the Court Ruling:

Court’s logic raises concerns about even physical libraries being seen as competing with book sales.
Book lending by libraries remains essential for public benefit, despite potential harm to publishers.

Indian Context and CDL:

Indian courts (e.g., Delhi University photocopy shop case) have demanded empirical data from publishers in copyright cases.
A balanced approach is crucial for maintaining public interest in CDL without relying on unproven inferences of market harm, if such a case arises in the future.