Copyright Alliance calls controlled digital lending a fabricated theory
Copyright AllianceCopyright advocacy organization
Copyright Alliance describes the Second Circuit's decision as a second rejection of the Internet Archive's fair use defense. It says the archive invoked a fabricated theory, controlled digital lending, to defend scanning publishers' books and distributing the copies to the public for free.
“a fabricated theory called controlled digital lending (CDL)”
Analysis
Where this statement fits
Should the Internet Archive need publishers' permission to lend scans of in-copyright books it owns?
In June 2020, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, John Wiley & Sons and Penguin Random House sued the Internet Archive for scanning print books and lending the digital copies online without their permission, usually one borrower at a time for each print copy the Archive or a partner library owned. A federal district court in New York rejected the Archive's fair-use defense on March 24, 2023, and on September 4, 2024, the Second Circuit affirmed, finding the lending noncommercial but not transformative and declining to carve out books the Archive owns itself. The Archive, represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, called the practice controlled digital lending and said it is what libraries have always done with the books they acquire; the Association of American Publishers said authors and publishers have the right to license and be paid for their books. On December 4, 2024, the Archive said it would not seek Supreme Court review, ending the case, but would keep advocating for libraries to own and lend digital books. The dispute is over whether owning a print copy of an in-copyright book should let the Archive lend a scan of it without the publisher's permission.
Source and context
Analysis
About this source
The author supports the publishers. Predictions about possible AI litigation are not holdings in this case.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Copyright Alliance says that in 2020 four book publishers sued the Internet Archive for scanning tens of thousands of their books and distributing the copies to the public for free.
After the quotation
It says the district court granted summary judgment for the publishers in March 2023 and rejected the Internet Archive's fair use defense.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is Internet Archive's unlicensed controlled digital lending. The speaker criticizes that practice and supports the permission requirement.
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The Dispute Index. "Copyright Alliance calls controlled digital lending a fabricated theory". First published: 2026-10-28. Last updated: 2026-10-28. https://disputeindex.com/events/6999-copyright-alliance-describes-the-second-circuit-s-decision