What the Internet Archive Case in the U.S. Means for Digital Book-lending

The Internet Archive’s efforts have democratised access to more than 835 billion web pages and 44 million texts for anyone with an internet connection. Two of IA’s techno-legal experiments prompted a major copyright tussle with book publishers. The matter came to be titled Hachette Book Group, Inc. and others v. Internet Archive. This article examines the recent judgement of a US appellate court  reaffirming the district court’s verdict in favour of the publishers. The author explains how US courts approach ‘fair use’ and reflects on the implications of the decision on digital book-lending.