It did so on a one-to-one basis.
Meaning that checking out a digital copy would pull it from the shelf until someone returned it.
Under the NEL, books were rented infinitely.
Book shelves.© David Madison via Getty.
Then the publishers, including Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, and Wiley sued.
The court ruled in favor of the publishers in 2023 and the IA appealed.
The court has decided it does not qualify for fair-use protections.
Libraries are big business for publishers and the IA messed with the money.
The library eBook lending market is thriving, court records said.
Checkouts of eBooks on OverDrive by library patrons increased dramatically between 2010 and 2020.
Its a different story for libraries, who have to constantly haggle over the digital rights to lend books.
IAs principal argument was that the method of sharing its works was transformative.
The court didnt find that persuasive.
We conclude that IAs use of the Works is not transformative.
IAs Free Digital Library is meant toand doessubstitute for the original Works.
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As AI-generated media enters the mainstream, there is hope that consumers will put a premium on handmade works.
