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0 pointsnitrogen10y ago0 comments

The IA is like a library. Libraries don't have to get special permission from book publishers to be libraries.

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4 comments · 2 top-level

Chlorus10y ago· 2 in thread

Except it isn't. By this standard, book publishers would have to go pound sand if libraries started giving away infinitely many copies of their book.

ghaff10y ago

To be more precise, it doesn't *matter" if the Internet Archive is a "library" or not because libraries don't have any special status with respect to copyright law in the US. (Beyond whatever special status publishers may choose to give certain classes of libraries with respect to digital rights.) You or I can choose to setup a lending library tomorrow and we have the same rights to loan out physical books as the New York Public Library does.

cookiecaper10y ago

Yes, as you point out, due to the first sale doctrine. Such a thing doesn't exist in the digital realm.

ghaff10y ago

Because of first sale doctrine. Anyone can set up a library by buying physical books, DVDs, or anything else they want to lend out to one person at a time without any sort of special permission. Digital library content, on the other hand, is based on specific contracts with the rights holders.

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