[CASL-L] A heads up about the "Emergency Library"

[Egan, Danelle]

Hi all,
There is a resource floating around out there- even recommended by NPR that
was a huge topic on Twitter yesterday. The "National Emergency Library" or
the Internet Archive has become pretty controversial. I just wanted to
share the following information with you. so you could be aware.
I am copying a post from the author Jordan Sonnenblick in the School
Librarian's Network on Facebook where he explains the site and why it is
essentially a pirate site. See below. Additionally, I included a short
article
<https://the-digital-reader.com/2020/03/28/authors-protest-internet-archive-pirating-their-books/>here
that explains the legal issue pretty well. It sounds like it could be a big
legal mess- so I am staying away from it. Plus, it bugs me that they are
taking the author's work illegally and not paying them for it.
Do with this information what you will- I am not your mom. 😂 Stay well!

"The Association of American Publishers has issued a release on this
blatant attack on copyright. At the end of the long article, it says "this
latest move makes an eventual lawsuit all but inevitable." Do you want your
name, or the name of your school or library district, tangled up in this
mess?
Here's the release. Please share widely:

Internet Archive Grants Itself Emergency Copyright Powers for Uncontrolled
Digital Lending
<https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fclicktime.symantec.com%2F3zE8NcmZqyiFqTuN8jkDZR7Vc%3Fu%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Femail.publisherslunch.com%252Flt.php%253Fs%253Dcbcc61983d2580b48fd9c4c2062d2f71%2526i%253D482A482A1A21641%26fbclid%3DIwAR1mKOgscKRDJVvukyhWBNQ3CnjPNAFvkmtTFi8x6DjqRL28qSh-FvyiMjA&h=AT1HCqUzV7GElPytSEdlU_fMXwGoF5ouZC_sfQ6EPKyQITYSIEyhwA1c7g7G86sxf0GkIKfho80bpF1YKVvg28YE8mUucBI1GuyXVyB8LEGOMBOhrXhoOw0D-OzP8Yu5svKY0fz2volNx5Sd8HVvMTehr9ztEi4vyUU>
"To make a real difference for the nation and the world," the Internet
Archive unilaterally granted itself emergency powers to lend a corpus of
over 1.4 million ebooks without any restrictions, contrary to its own
stated policies. They are calling it
<https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fclicktime.symantec.com%2F3UuJ7Udvfnkt3BJdGbgsnRd7Vc%3Fu%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Femail.publisherslunch.com%252Flt.php%253Fs%253Dcbcc61983d2580b48fd9c4c2062d2f71%2526i%253D482A482A1A21642%26fbclid%3DIwAR1W-yq-1kn6QWjP3sOE1YEKZnxeQFEAeU9QO9MYRiCZIthe38MJK5Ek_-w&h=AT2dUYHBbHgSSqdatrrWM9f-z2ddlkV_R6q9EHAMqcDMmewZvOLJa0akFTLSHBpPXZHkOadM9eXDr9E5W6BYRbn85acWt7RAnQaFJdH2tLNiOFYZWcDw0gLjZOAJP08BNTTrSRyO290BE4B_egqObM6bwQzQYEzi714>
a "National Emergency Library to serve the nation’s displaced learners,"
lasting at least through June 30.

In a modest concession, authors can opt their books out [send an email to
info at archive.org with National Emergency Library Removal Request as the
subject line. Please include each URL of the book or books you would like
to have removed]. They also "recognize that authors and publishers are
going to be impacted by this global pandemic as well. We encourage all
readers who are in a position to buy books to do so, ideally while also
supporting your local bookstore."

The IA, along with some participating libraries, invented what they call
"controlled digital lending" in 2011, and the practice has been
controversial among authors and publishers but unchallenged in court up
until now. The idea was to digitize in copyright, out of print books from
library shelves that are not available as ebooks, and lend them under the
same one copy per user at a time principal that has been applied to
authorized library lending of ebooks.

There is a whole website devoted to explaining why "controlled digital
lending" might be considered Fair Use under copyright law. By their own
standards and pledges
<https://clicktime.symantec.com/35HxZLXhYz5QJvRYGjQrEWz7Vc?u=http%3A%2F%2Femail.publisherslunch.com%2Flt.php%3Fs%3Dcbcc61983d2580b48fd9c4c2062d2f71%26i%3D482A482A1A21643&fbclid=IwAR0eoXD0t03wLeaRL4tYyPzIgAWDL783k86MMscaqNnh6QjYn9Pqek5AtV8>,
making a single digitized print copy available for simultaneous -- let
alone unlimited -- use "wouldnot be considered properly implemented CDL or
qualify for" Fair Use under their analysis.
President and ceo of the Association of American Publishers Maria A.
Pallante told us in a written statement: "We are stunned by the Internet
Archive's aggressive, unlawful, and opportunistic attack on the rights of
authors and publishers in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic. As
noted here
<https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fclicktime.symantec.com%2F3LzZECw96Jr6KDLPXi4W9mM7Vc%3Fu%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Femail.publisherslunch.com%252Flt.php%253Fs%253Dcbcc61983d2580b48fd9c4c2062d2f71%2526i%253D482A482A1A21644%26fbclid%3DIwAR10vSysngdUfRcT0yup5NhWXNKSyH6FUomGiLaA0SBoxLKJCYXwhIZUAHU&h=AT0wHAg65R9AuwGKuxPr5SbKi8E9WcZs-eIkqrv0991F3BtpGhrgsWYKvr9Yz-H9W9laV0QQcBZnO9UU19dJflhYu1oazVYWS9d1DT9VRRvUPg_lOl0ea90LzzT3BHhPRipLvY_FDBbUqV_-AK00fUOPgLNmsfubVIM>
publishers are working tirelessly to support the public with numerous,
innovative, and socially-aware programs that address every side of the
crisis: providing free global access to research and medical journals that
pertain to the virus; offering complementary digital education materials to
schools and parents; and expanding powerful storytelling platforms for
readers of all ages.
"It is the height of hypocrisy that the Internet Archive is choosing this
moment – when lives, livelihoods and the economy are all in jeopardy – to
make a cynical play to undermine copyright, and all the scientific,
creative and economic opportunity that it supports."
While no one is likely to take the Internet Archive to court during the
crisis, this latest move makes an eventual lawsuit all but inevitable."

-- 
Danelle Egan
Library Media Specialist
Bethel Middle School
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