If you’ve ever researched anything online, you’ve probably used the Internet Archive (IA). Founded in 1996 by librarian and engineer Brewster Kahle, AI describes itself as “a nonprofit library of millions of books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.” Its annals include 37 million books, many of which are ancient tomes not commercially available. It has classic movies, lots of podcasts, and via its Wayback Machine, almost every web page removed. Four corporate publishers have a big problem with this, which is why they have sued the Internet Archive. In Hachette v. The Internet Archive, Hachette Publishing Group, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and Wiley have all claimed that AI is infringing copyrights. Now a federal judge has ruled in the publishers’ case. The AI is appealing the decision.
[…] This trolling of concerns is not only false, but the ruling itself, based on copyright, is a blow against fair use. It brings us one step closer to perpetual copyright: the idea that people should own their work forever. The IA argued that their project was covered by fair use, as the Emergency Library provides texts for educational and scholarly purposes. Even the writers opposed the court’s ruling. More than 300 writers signed a petition against the lawsuit, including Neil Gaiman, Naomi Klein, and get this, Chuck Wendig. The writers lost nothing with the Emergency Library and gained everything from it. For my part, I have acquired AI research materials that I would not have found anywhere else. The archive has loads of primary sources that might otherwise require researchers to fly across the country to access. Internet Archive is good for literacy. It’s good for the public. It is good for readers, writers, and anyone who is interested in literary education. It does not hurt authors, whose income is not affected any more than any library program. Even initial opponents of the Emergency Library have recognized this. The federal court decision is a victory for the corporations and a disaster for everyone else.
If this decision is not reversed, humans will lose more knowledge than Alexandra’s Library ever contained. If AI’s appeal fails, it will be a tragedy of historic proportions. writers and anyone who has invested in literary education. It does not hurt authors, whose income is not affected any more than any library program. Even initial opponents of the Emergency Library have recognized this. The federal court decision is a victory for the corporations and a disaster for everyone else. If this decision is not reversed, humans will lose more knowledge than Alexandra’s Library ever contained. If AI’s appeal fails, it will be a tragedy of historic proportions. writers and anyone who has invested in literary education. It does not hurt authors, whose income is not affected any more than any library program. Even initial opponents of the Emergency Library have recognized this. The federal court decision is a victory for the corporations and a disaster for everyone else. If this decision is not reversed, humans will lose more knowledge than Alexandra’s Library ever contained. If AI’s appeal fails, it will be a tragedy of historic proportions. human beings will lose more knowledge than Alexandra’s Library ever contained. If AI’s appeal fails, it will be a tragedy of historic proportions. human beings will lose more knowledge than Alexandra’s Library ever contained. If AI’s appeal fails, it will be a tragedy of historic proportions.
