
The legality of the Open Library is still a little unclear, but many experts believe it does pass the test for fair use, so publishers learned to live with it – in part because they weren't sure they could stop it and didn't want to open the Pandora's box that could come with a full-on legal challenge.įast forward to last March, when the COVID-19 crisis began to close schools and libraries around the world. As long as the IA didn't circulate more copies than it originally purchased, they saw this practice as a simple extension of the library principle. A reader who wanted to borrow a book that was currently on loan was put on a waiting list. The original vision of the IA Open Library was to buy books and loan out an electronic version of each book one copy at a time. (It is considered fair use to make an archival copy of a book you already own.) But the IA also acts as a library, loaning out electronic copies of the books in its own collection. Sometimes they provide this service for libraries. Ī little more back story: In addition to its role as an archiver of websites, the IA is also an archiver of books.

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But the IA also sometimes receives less-glowing attention – like on June 1, for instance, when they were sued by four major book publishers in a legal challenge that could, based on the statutory limits of the alleged infractions, force the IA offline and drive it into bankruptcy.

Mellon Foundation, the Democracy Fund, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The laudable work on the IA has received funding and accolades from leading nonprofits, such as the Andrew W. They also archive audio recordings, news programs, and digital images, making high-quality historical information available to users who might not otherwise have access. The Internet Archive (IA) is a nonprofit founded with the lofty goal of providing "universal access to all knowledge." Their archive of websites lets historians and journalists step back into time to view past states of the Internet.
