Friday is our day in court. After four long years of legal action, we will be in New York for the appellate oral argument in Hachette v. Internet Archive, the publishers’ lawsuit against our library.
Show Your Support!
Throughout this four-year process, our patrons and supporters have asked how to help in this fight. Here are actions you can take to stand with the Internet Archive:
1. Watch the oral argument on Friday, June 28.
The proceedings will be livestreamed starting at 10am ET. Join via https://ww2.ca2.uscourts.gov/court.html, Courtroom 1505.
2. Tell the publishers: Let readers read!
We’ve created an open letter to the publishers, asking them to restore access to the 500,000 books they’ve removed from our library. Add your signature today!
3. Stay connected.
Sign up for the Empowering Libraries newsletter for ongoing updates about the lawsuit and our library.
A quick recap
After the lower court sided with the publishers last March, we committed to appeal the decision. The appeal process kicked off last fall, with our opening brief filed in December, followed by amicus briefs in support of our library and library lending two weeks later. On Friday, we’ll appear in the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, continuing our fight for library digital rights.
What’s at stake?
The lawsuit is about the longstanding and widespread library practice of controlled digital lending, which is how we lend the books we own to our patrons. As a result of the publishers’ lawsuit, more than 500,000 books have been removed from our lending library. The impacts on our patrons have been devastating:
I’m commenting this to restore access to 500,000+ books for everyone.
I’m spreading this message as much as possible, #longlivetheinternetarchive!
Rooting for open library I love this site gives ke so much joy reading the books I loved as a kid. I hope yall win
We want to restore access to 500,000+ books for everyone.
Here’s something major that i just learned from Naomi Moist from San Francisco USA, this can help your case people: Penguin made $720 million in profit last year. Wiley’s CEO expects “material performance and profit improvement in fiscal 2025 and 2026.” For the first six months of fiscal 2024, HC sales were up 4%, to $1.07 billion, with profits jumping 67%, to $150 million, giving the publisher an operating margin of about 14%. The Lagardère group [i.e. Hachette] delivered €5.914 billion in revenue in the first nine months of 2023, up 18.1% on a reported basis. These are all direct statements from these companies.
This is literal proof that the internet archive isn’t effecting the sales of these publishers and they got nothing to support their arguments, use this as evidence against your enemies. I’m praying for your victory, please know that there’s over 31,000 people supporting you people on change.org and it keeps on rising, please give your best fight and remember all the people who love you and support you to the end!
The actions and motives of the publishers seem to me like they should be widely regarded as archaic in 2024. They may even be dangerously out of sync with the needs of the present and future in such a rapidly changing world where having unobstructed and immediate access to information may be absolutely essential.
Existing laws around digital rights may need to be adapted to the reality and circumstances of these times if they cannot serve our essential interests.
I know right?!
Let’s restore access to 500,000+ books for everyone!!!! Let’s spread the news!!!
Archives play an important role for humanity and therefore should be especially protected, not shat on. Sadly, it appears the bureaucrats in power seem not to care much about preserving history. They have no understanding how important preserving history is.
The value of an archive becomes most apparent in the long term, when one tries to look for something just to realize it is lost to history.
If I had the leverage, I would immunize archives from attacks like these. Sadly, there is nothing I alone can do.
Everyone we only need 710+ votes on our change.org petition to reach 35,000 signatures, please everyone get anyone who can sign the form do so. Use your emails, your contacts and anything else in your disposal to help the cause. please, let’s get this goal done.