Internet Archive's digital book lending violates copyright, US judge rules

Internet Archive's digital book lending violates copyright, US judge rules

A U.S. court ruled that the Internet Archive’s practice of scanning copyrighted books to lend digitally constitutes copyright infringement, rejecting the nonprofit’s fair use defense. The judge determined that creating digital copies for bulk lending does not transform the work sufficiently to bypass licensing requirements, effectively prioritizing the exclusive rights of publishers and authors over the organization’s model of unlicensed digital access. This decision establishes a significant legal boundary for digital preservation and lending services, signaling that traditional library lending rights do not automatically extend to reproducing works in new digital formats. By affirming that controlled digital lending infringes on established copyright laws, the ruling impacts how institutions can share protected materials online, potentially restricting the expansion of free digital borrowing models that rely on scanning physical assets. The outcome is critical to the open data community as it highlights the tension between maximizing information accessibility and respecting intellectual property frameworks. It serves as a cautionary precedent for organizations managing large-scale digital repositories, emphasizing that even nonprofit initiatives focused on public access must navigate complex legal constraints to avoid violating copyright protections while striving to keep knowledge freely available.

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