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Category Archives: Copyright

Texas Universities Reach Historic Deal with Elsevier

(November 30, 2022) “Texas Library Coalition for United Action (TLCUA) is pleased to announce that it has concluded negotiations with Elsevier, and all TLCUA members have signed or are finalizing new agreements for subscription journal access. In 2019, 44 public and private university campuses across Texas joined together to form TLCUA to think creatively about… Continue Reading

Rights holders got Google to remove 6 billion links from Search over 10 years

Ars Technica: “Over the past decade, Google has consistently documented its efforts to remove links from its search results to content that the tech giant considers pirated, and recently, the total number of Google takedowns since its reporting began has shot past 6 billion. It’s a milestone that Torrent Freak suggested shows that, “[w]hile copyright… Continue Reading

Access to Knowledge Coalition Website on Copyright Laws

“The A2K Coalition calls for a fair and balanced international copyright system that is underpinned by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights….This map shows the status of copyright exceptions for key activities related to education, research and cultural heritage…” “Access to knowledge is not enjoyed equally across the world. Crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic and… Continue Reading

Internet Archive Files Final Reply Brief in Lawsuit Defending Controlled Digital Lending

Internet Archive Blogs: “On Friday, October 7, the Internet Archive filed a reply brief against the four publishers that sued Internet Archive in June 2020: Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, John Wiley & Sons, and Penguin Random House. This is the final brief in support of our motion for summary judgment (our previous motions can… Continue Reading

The ever-expanding job of preserving the web’s backpages

FT.com [paywall]: The Internet Archive’s mission is to ‘provide universal access to all knowledge’. Within the partitions of a lovely former church in San Francisco’s Richmond district, racks of laptop servers hum and blink with exercise. They comprise the web. Well, a really great amount of it. The Internet Archive, a non-profit, has been gathering… Continue Reading

Lawsuit by a group of major book publishers threatens existence of Internet Archive

Via LLRX – Fenced-off culture, the privatized Internet, and why book publishers lean on a 30-year-old doctrine – The Internet Archive (IA) “is a non-profit digital library offering free universal access to books, movies & music, as well as 624 billion archived web pages.” The IA offers users unrestricted access to its expansive ecosystem of knowledge… Continue Reading

300+ authors pen open letter supporting libraries’ rights in the digital age

“Signed by a vast and diverse list of authors, the letter decries conduct from major publishers and trade associations, including their lawsuit against the Internet Archive, demanding that they cease efforts to undermine the essential contributions of libraries to an accessible and inclusive world of books. Over 300 authors including Neil Gaiman, Alok Menon, Naomi… Continue Reading

KnowYourCopyrights.org Helps Library Advocates Assert Rights in Digital Era

[August 24, 2022] “the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) launched KnowYourCopyrights.org, a revamped resource to support library leaders, practitioners, and advocates in proactively asserting library rights in the digital era. Libraries, as well as the research, teaching, and learning activities that they support, enjoy special rights in US law, starting with the constitutional purpose of… Continue Reading

Could the Internet Archive Go Out Like Napster?

Slate: “Two and a half years ago, the Internet Archive made a decision that pissed off a lot of writers—and embroiled it in a lawsuit that many netizens fear could weaken the archive, its finances, and its services long into the future. In March 2020, as bookstores and libraries joined other businesses in closing their… Continue Reading

Librarians and Lawmakers Push for Greater Access to E-Books

Pew Trusts: “Librarians and their legislative allies are pushing publishers of electronic books to lower their prices and relax licensing terms, an effort that could make it easier for millions of library users to borrow the increasingly popular digital versions of books. Supporters say the e-book lending legislation in several states would allow libraries to… Continue Reading