Internet Archive Loses on Appeal

Libraries can lend paper books for free but must pay outrageous fees to publishers to lend scans of paper books.

Remember: the Internet Archive owned paper copies of the books they lent. They scanned the paper book, and only allowed one person to view the scan at one time. Each patron had a limited time to view the book before other patrons had a chance. This is as close to lending the paper copy as possible without the patron actually touching the paper copy.

Publishers were upset because this digital lending gave them no more power, control, or money than they receive from selling paper books to libraries. Publishers rent ebooks to libraries in such a way that they get income from them constantly, and not just one time. Renting ebooks to libraries also allows publishers to spy on readers.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/09/internet-archives-e-book-lending-is-not-fair-use-appeals-court-rules/
https://torrentfreak.com/internet-archive-loses-landmark-e-book-lending-copyright-appeal-against-publishers-240905/

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