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Second Circuit Says Libraries Disincentivize Authors To Write Books By Lending Them For Free | TechDirt

The final part of the ruling really is a tragic insult to the public. The Internet Archive made a final argument that the library should be allowed to continue given its substantial public benefit. But the Court, ridiculously, claims that the public gets a greater benefit from the library being shut down, and mocks the idea that expanding access to the public is all that important.

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I imagine the Archive will seek cert at the Supreme Court, but who knows what will happen there. The Supreme Court hasn’t been great on fair use lately. The better answer is that Congress should fix this and make it clear that copyright law blesses this kind of open digital lending, though the copyright industries would throw a shitfit if anyone even dared propose such a bill.

This ruling is a huge loss for public access to knowledge and for libraries.

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