The Internet Archives was sued for opening 1.4 million copyrighted books, and a US court ruled that the website had no right to scan books.

According to CTOnews.com news on March 25, the Internet Archives (The Internet Archive) announced that it would open the lending of 1.4 million copyrighted books for a limited time during the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020. The move was sued by book publishers, and a US court recently handed down the lawsuit and ruled that the Internet Archives.

In the case of Hachette v. the Internet Archives, US federal judge John G. Koeltl ruled against the Internet Archives, arguing that the website had no right to scan books and lend them like a library.

Judge Koeltl ruled that the Internet Archives had merely created "derivative works" and needed permission from book copyright owners (publishers) before lending them out through its national emergency library plan.

The Internet Archives said it would appeal. Chris Freeland, director of the Internet Archives, wrote an official blog post, which CTOnews.com translated as follows:

The decision of the lower court of the United States today is a blow to all libraries and the communities we serve. The decision affected libraries across the United States and hurt authors, and this unfair licensing model is the only way to read their works online.

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Internet Archives announces temporary closure of lending of 1.4 million copyrighted books