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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsThe Internet Archive says more than 500,000 books were taken out of its lending service after publishers won a copyright case. That number describes lending removals—not the 127 books at the center of the trial, and not books removed from the Archive entirely. The Second Circuit affirmed the ruling against the Archive on September 4, 2024, rejecting its fair-use defense for the challenged scanning and digital lending program.
What the publishers’ court win means
Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, John Wiley & Sons, and Penguin Random House sued the Internet Archive over its scanning and online lending of full-text digital copies of copyrighted books. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision against the Archive on September 4, 2024, holding that the challenged copying and lending did not qualify as fair use in this case. Read the Second Circuit’s opinion.
The decision addresses the specific program and works challenged by the publishers. It should not be read as a ruling that every kind of digitization, preservation, library lending, or Internet Archive service is unlawful.
Why the 500,000 figure differs from the trial’s 127 books
The two figures refer to different things. The district court described 127 books as the works in suit. Separately, the Internet Archive Help Center says more than 500,000 books were taken out of lending as a result of the litigation. The larger number is a count of lending removals reported by the Archive, not the number of books litigated at trial. Internet Archive: Why are books Borrow Unavailable? District court case record.
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“Taken out of lending” also does not mean every affected title disappeared from the Internet Archive entirely, or became unavailable from every other source. Availability depends on the title and where it is offered.
What controlled digital lending involved
The dispute concerned controlled digital lending: the Archive owned print books, scanned them, and lent digital copies online under controls intended to limit how many readers could borrow a copy at once. The publishers argued that scanning and lending the full text without permission infringed their copyrights. The Archive relied on fair use, but the Second Circuit rejected that defense for the challenged conduct. Second Circuit opinion.
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The judgment is about the challenged full-text copying and lending—not a blanket prohibition on libraries preserving books or providing digital access through licenses.
What happened after the appeal
The Internet Archive did not ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Second Circuit’s decision. On December 6, 2024, the Associated Press reported that the Archive would continue honoring its agreement to remove books from lending at the request of member publishers. Associated Press report.
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Where to look for digital access
Readers can check a public library’s licensed ebook services for digital copies. A title’s availability depends on the library’s collection and the licenses it holds, so this is not a guarantee that a particular book can be borrowed. The publishers’ trade association, the Association of American Publishers, reported that OverDrive recorded 430 million ebook and audiobook checkouts in 2020—more than 500% above its 2012 level. That is a historical figure from the trade association, not a current estimate. Association of American Publishers.
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