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by hiatus 657 days ago
> In the Internet Archive case, they're distributing whole, unmodified copies of copyrighted works which will of course compete with those original works.

Libraries would be illegal if conceived of today. If this weren't digital it would be a violation of first sale doctrine.
2 comments
tptacek 657 days ago
How? Libraries lend out actual physical objects. They're not xeroxing the books and handing them out.
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hiatus 656 days ago
The actual opinion rules on the concept of controlled digital lending more broadly. From page two:

> "This appeal presents the following question: is it “fair use” for a nonprofit organization to scan copyright-protected print books in their entirety and distribute those digital copies online, in full, for free, subject to a one-to-one owned-to-loaned ratio between its print copies and the digital copies it makes available at any given time, all without authorization from the copyright-holding publishers or authors? Applying the relevant provisions of the Copyright Act as well as binding Supreme Court and Second Circuit precedent, we conclude the answer is no."

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tcgv 657 days ago
Exactly. And if a book is in high demand in a library, you'd either have to wait your turn or purchase one yourself to avoid the lending queue.
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cool_dude85 657 days ago
The IA's controlled digital lending setup worked the same way.
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tptacek 657 days ago
No, the IA's CDL system required them to make multiple copies of books (one to digitize the book, and one for every reader of the book), which is not a legal problem a physical library runs into.
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cool_dude85 657 days ago
I agree, and apparently this distinction is legally relevant. However, it does not change my point that the CDL also has the property that:

"if a book is in high demand in a library, you'd either have to wait your turn or purchase one yourself to avoid the lending queue."

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tptacek 657 days ago
Right. I'd like a system where that distinction matters but it seems plain how the courts will arrive at a conclusion that it doesn't, because the law is about the mechanism more than it is about the intent. Still, we were all holding on to a fig leaf of an argument that the intent would control here, and IA has burnt that leaf up, at least in NY, CT, and VT.
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beardyw 657 days ago
> Libraries would be illegal if conceived of today.

Just shows how far forward we have progressed. Maybe book burnings next to prevent resale?

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