A federal appeals has upheld a lower court’s ruling that the Internet Archive’s virtual Open Library program is considered “copyright infringement”.

Four years ago, publishers Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, John Wiley & Sons, and Penguin Random House filed a lawsuit against the Internet Archive for providing over 1.3 million books to internet users just as the COVID-19 pandemic was getting underway.

The publishers claim that Internet Archive engages in “willful mass copyright infringement” and that the website’s services “grossly exceed legitimate library services, do violence to the Copyright Act, and constitute willful digital piracy on an industrial scale.”

Unlike conventional e-books, the Open Library program allows users to “check out” books online that the Internet Archive actually owns in a warehouse. The digital copy represents an actual purchased physical copy hosted off site. Much like how paper currency was originally meant to represent gold and other precious metals; meaning the virtual books in the Open Library are more “real” than today’s fiat currency. But that’s a conversation for another article.

Chris Freeland from the Internet Archive shared his disappointment with the decision, saying:

We are disappointed in today’s opinion about the Internet Archive’s digital lending of books that are available electronically elsewhere. We are reviewing the court’s opinion and will continue to defend the rights of libraries to own, lend, and preserve books. 

He ends his message with a call for supporters to sign an open letter, asking to restore access to hundreds of thousands of books.

However, this needn’t be the final word as the Supreme Court could possibly be activated to consider the case.

Anyone interested in supporting the Internet Archive can find out more here.

This is Niche Gamer Tech. In this column, we regularly cover tech and things related to the tech industry.