District Court Rules Internet Archive's Open Library Project Is Not Fair Use

A federal district court in New York held that the Internet Archive's Open Library project was engaging in copyright infringement by publishing digital copies of millions of books online. Even though the Internet Archive and participating libraries purchased print copies of the books and, for the most part, made them available to borrowers on a one-to-one basis, the court rejected the Internet Archives' fair use defense. The court refused Internet Archives' invitation to expand the boundaries of fair use jurisprudence and made it clear that owners of printed works cannot simply digitize them and make them available to the public - even if they limit distribution.

The court engaged in an extensive analysis of whether the purpose and character of Internet Archive's use was transformative. Ultimately, because Internet Archive simply scanned and distributed to the public complete copies of copyrighted works, the court found the use was not transformative. The court