Four major publishing houses complained Monday in the United States against a digital library which gives free access to more than a million books intended for confined readers.
Prosecuted for copyright infringement, the targeted platform, Internet Archive, created a "national emergency bookstore" in March offering free 1.4 million digital books, according to it in response to the closure of libraries during the pandemic of coronavirus.
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The publishing houses Hachette (Lagardère group), HarperCollins, John Wiley & Sons and Penguin Random House saw in this initiative an act of piracy operated under the pretext of the general interest.
"The Internet Archive sets up and promotes copyright infringement on a large scale," denounced Maria Pallante, president of the professional association of American publishers, of which the four complainants are members.
"By scanning and disseminating literary works over which it cannot claim any legal or contractual right, IA (Internet Archive, Editor's note) deliberately diverts the financial and intellectual investments of authors and publishers and blithely tramples on them. copyright laws passed by Congress, ” she said.
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Internet Archive, a Californian company specializing in web archiving, claims to have consulted library managers and legal experts who concluded that its emergency bookstore was operating within a legal framework, reconciling the public interest and that of the beneficiaries of copyright.
John Bergmayer, of the consumer advocacy association Public Knowledge, regrets the filing of the complaint. According to him, the creation of this free digital library was justified during the pandemic, most of the printed books being in fact inaccessible.
"We call on legislators to implement legislation clarifying the right of libraries to make printed books available to customers electronically, so that they can be useful to voters in times of emergency," said Mr. Bergmayer.
"There is no difference between what the Internet Archive does and tossing a brick in the window of a grocery store, distributing food, and then congratulating oneself on having rendered a service to the public," on the contrary assured Douglas Preston. , Authors Guild, professional organization representing the authors.