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As libraries fight for access to e-books, a new copyright champion emerges

Fortune – “A long running battle over copyright has flared up again, and Lila Bailey is at the center of it. A personable 43-year-old with degrees in philosophy and law, Bailey is the chief lawyer for the Internet Archive, a non-profit facing a major lawsuit from big publishers over how it lends out e-books. “This case will determine what libraries will be. We think the future of libraries hangs in the balance here,” says Bailey in a recent interview from her home in San Francisco. The case involves the Internet Archive’s decision to create a temporary “National Emergency Library” at the height of the pandemic’s first wave—a service that expanded how many e-books clients could borrow simultaneously. The publishing industry sued, saying the non-profit was handing out digital books without permission. The Internet Archive case has received national attention—a widely shared article in The Nation described it as “publishers taking the Internet to court”—and has drawn attention to the reality that, as library branches close over COVID concerns, patrons must often wait 10 weeks or more to borrow the digital version of a best-seller…”

See also Internet Archive Open Library lawsuit moves forward; arguments set for November 2021 and Internet Archive to Publishers: Drop ‘Needless’ Copyright Lawsuit and Work with Us

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