Masnick urges Congress to clarify that copyright permits open digital lending
Mike MasnickTechdirt founder and editor writing a commentary on the appeal ruling
Masnick urges Congress to clarify that copyright law permits this kind of open digital lending. He criticizes the appeal ruling's market-harm analysis and argues that scanned library books differ from licensed ebooks. He welcomes the court's rejection of the claim that donation links made the Archive's lending commercial.
“Congress should fix this and make it clear that copyright law blesses this kind of open digital lending,”
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
Masnick argues that Congress should clarify copyright law to permit open digital lending. The item includes the original column and its article link.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Masnick says the Supreme Court's treatment of fair use leaves the outcome of a further appeal uncertain.
After the quotation
He calls the ruling a loss for public access to knowledge and for libraries.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The case concerns the Archive lending scans of owned books without publisher permission. Masnick defends that lending and criticizes the ruling against it.
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More from this case
Read the full caseAAP says authors and publishers should control the terms of digital access
Association of American Publishers
“when authors and their publisher licensees can decide the terms on which they make their works available.”Read statement
White defends library lending after the Internet Archive ruling
“When a library buys a book, they should be able to lend it.”Read statement
Copyright Alliance calls controlled digital lending a fabricated theory
Copyright Alliance
“a fabricated theory called controlled digital lending (CDL)”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Masnick urges Congress to clarify that copyright permits open digital lending". First published: 2026-10-31. Last updated: 2026-10-31. https://disputeindex.com/events/7502-masnick-urges-congress-to-clarify-that-copyright-law