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Share Your Story: The Impact of Losing Access to 500,000 Books (docs.google.com)

submitted 4 months ago by ToxicWaste@lemm.ee to c/technology@lemmy.world

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[+] FaceDeer@fedia.io -19 points 4 months ago (2 children)

They asked:

We want to hear from you! How has losing access to these books affected your reading or research? What does it mean to you that these 500,000+ books are no longer available? Please share your story below.

There's no asterisk on that specifying "only answers that favor our lawsuit are desired."

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 29 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Yes, thank you Captain Literal. I think it's very obvious to most people that they don't want stories that won't help them.

[–] Zoot@reddthat.com 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I think its an incredibly fair view point. If IA loses, and the way back machine goes down, because they keep losing these lawsuits, then it has absolutely affected this person.

To be quite honest, I even agree. The IA should be for preservation, not for piracy. Right now they're boarding that line of piracy, and tbh, I disagree with that as well. Id rather go to a pirate website to pirate my books, and go to the IA to see what has been preserved.

[–] ToxicWaste@lemm.ee 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

That means that if the Internet Archive and its partner libraries have only one copy of a book, then only one patron can borrow it at a time, just like other library lending.

Lending and renting stuff is not piracy! Many corporate suits want people to start believing this. but i remember going to the library and renting books, movies and games. it was not piracy back then, and it wont be now.

[–] Zoot@reddthat.com -1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Does IA have the right to lend and rent stuff? I believe that is the true issue here. At the moment they aren't doing anything different then say what a piracy website would do. The right way would by making said links expire, not allowing infinite copies, and an actual "lending" system would do them more good then harm.

[–] ToxicWaste@lemm.ee 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Please go to archive.org > Books > Books to Borrow

Select any book which strikes your fancy. You will see a reading excerpt, like flicking through pages in a library. if you have a free account, you can lend it for 1h at a time.

Or look at this video https://dn720701.ca.archive.org/0/items/openlibrary-tour-2020/openlibrary.mp4

[–] Zoot@reddthat.com -4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

So is the Internet Archive a library, or a preservation place? I feel like you're advocating for them to be both, which isn't how the law views them.

Edit: I for one would prefer they not waste money on a losing battle, and stick to preserving things. Id hate to see them lose on trying to be a library, and then all of their efforts wasted.

I'll admit that I do like that they're trying to scurt the law by doing what you've said, but it clearly isn't enough.

[–] Promethiel@lemmy.world 12 points 4 months ago

There actually is an asterisk and most of us can see. Does this happen in your life often?