The courts disagreed, and in March 2023 found the Internet Archive liable. The non-profit and the plaintiffs reached an agreement, but the Internet Archive also attempted a long-shot appeal - which was just denied, finding that the original judgment was sound.
The lawsuit concerned the Internet Archive's National Emergency Library, a program it established at the beginning of the pandemic to allow wider access to some 1.3 million ebooks.
For its part, the Internet Archive asserted that its use of the books fell under the fair use doctrine, and that the removal of limits was done in the public interest.
The court ruling is a divisive decision in that the Internet Archive was seen as doing a public good by making these books available at the time, and that overly restricting digital lending may have unintended negative consequences.
Collection
[
|
...
]