What the Internet Archive case in the U.S. means for digital book-lending
- September 10, 2024
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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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.