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Originally Posted by deleted
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But what's the issue at hand right now? They've made their library open access? And... the library contains books that have somehow been scoured from the internet, judging that their free-access somewhere online means they're effectively free everywhere (in much the same way that non copy-writed content is.
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They themselves have been scanning books since about 2000. They started this years ago as Open Library. Some content is scanned by Google and some is uploads.
They are now using the excuse of the Pandemic to publicize what they where already doing, a PDF lending system for copyright and in print titles without paying a cent in royalties or purchasing a library licence.
Also the fact that someone else is offering a pirated copy certainly doesn't excuse anyone else doing it.
This goes far beyond their brilliant service of archiving and preserving websites. This is a deliberate and long planned attack on copyright existing at all.
I absolutely abhor that big US corporations have got copyright extended and deployed DRM to remove fair use and control customers. Neither addresses piracy. Copyright terms should be shorter, not increased periodically. Between 25 and 50 years after author's life with return of all rights to Author or author's estate if the publisher has sold no copies in 10 years. DRM should be illegal.