Lunduke
News • Science & Tech
The Internet Archive Loses Appeal. As Expected.
With more legal action on the horizon, how long before Archive.org closes?
September 05, 2024
post photo preview

The United States Court of Appeals (Second Circuit) just issued a ruling against the Internet Archive (Archive.org) -- rejecting their appeal, and upholding a previous ruling against them in the Hachette vs Internet Archive legal battle.

Make no mistake: This is very bad news for both the Internet Archive, Archive.org users, as well as other archival projects.

 

 

 

Hachette v. Internet Archive: The Short, Short Version

 

To make sure everyone is up to speed, here is the short, short version of this legal battle.

For many years, the Internet Archive has been creating digital copies of physical books (by scanning them) -- then allowing people to "borrow" those digital versions from Archive.org (in theory limiting the total digital books being "lent out" to the count of the physical books in the Archive's possession).

They never obtained permissions from the authors or publishers to do any of this.

In 2020, during the Covid lockdowns, the Internet Archive launched the "National Emergency Library" -- where they removed that "1 physical book : 1 digital book lent out" restriction.  Meaning anybody on the Internet could obtain digital scans of physical books... and the Archive could "Lend Out" an unlimited number of digital copies based on a single physical copy.

Again.  No permission was obtained from the writers or publishers.

Thus -- to the surprise of absolutely nobody -- the "Hachette v. Internet Archive" legal battle began.

And... The Internet Archive lost.  The judge ruled in favor of the publishers (including Hachette, Wiley, Penguin Random House, & HarperCollins).

Naturally, Internet Archive appealed that ruling.  But, boy-howdy, was their appeal a strange one which was destined to fail.

 

The Strange Appeal of The Internet Archive

 

On April 19th of 2024, the Internet Archive filed their final brief in their attempt to appeal this ruling against them.

In that ruling, one of the Internet Archive's core arguments was that it cost the Internet Archive a lot of money to make so many digital copies of books without permission... so, therefore, the Internet Archive should be allowed to do it.

That is neither a joke nor an exaggeration.  It sounds weird, because it is weird.

The Internet Archive truly attempted to make the case that spending a lot of money committing a crime... should make that crime legal.  (Could you imagine the mafia making that case?  Wild.)

You can read the full analysis, by The Lunduke Journal, of the appeal (including the appeal itself) for yourself for more details.

The reality is... there was never any chance that the Internet Archive's attempted appeal was going to be successful.  Their defensive arguments were highly illogical (bordering on flights of fancy), and brought nothing new or noteworthy to the case.  This was all painfully obvious.

 

The Lost Appeal

 

On Wednesday, September 4th, 2024, the opinion was handed down from the United States Court of Appeals.

While the full ruling is roughly 64 pages long, this single paragraph -- from the second page -- summarizes things quite well:

 

"This appeal presents the following question: Is it “fair use” for a nonprofit organization to scan copyright-protected print books in their entirety, and distribute those digital copies online, in full, for free, subject to a one-to-one owned-to-loaned ratio between its print copies and the digital copies it makes available at any given time, all without authorization from the copyright-holding publishers or authors? Applying the relevant provisions of the Copyright Act as well as binding Supreme Court and Second Circuit precedent, we conclude the answer is no. We therefore AFFIRM."

 

To call out the truly important parts:

"Question: Is it 'fair use' ... to scan copyright-protected print books in their entirety, and distribute those digital copies online, in full, for free ... all without authorization from the copyright-holding publishers or authors? ... we conclude the answer is no."

You can read the entire 64 page ruling for yourself.  Heck.  You can even read it on Archive.org.  But that line, right there, sums it all up.

Naturally, the Internet Archive has issued a statement.  Albeit... a short one.

 

"We are disappointed in today’s opinion about the Internet Archive’s digital lending of books that are available electronically elsewhere. We are reviewing the court’s opinion and will continue to defend the rights of libraries to own, lend, and preserve books."

 

What Happens Now?

 

The Internet Archive gets sued by some of the biggest book publishers... and loses.

The Internet Archive appeals... and loses.

What happens next?  Well.  Unfortunately -- for both the Internet Archive, and its users -- the future looks rather bleak.

First and foremost: Has the Internet Archive made, and distributed, digital copies of work you own?  This ruling will certainly not hurt your case should you decide to take legal action against Archive.org.

And -- holy smokes -- the amount of copyrighted material on Archive.org is absolutely massive.

The Archive.org software repository alone contains millions of items.  With a very large number of them being copyrighted material, posted there without permission of the copyright owner.

Simply going by the numbers, here's how much material is available on Archive.org (roughly):

  • 832 Billion archived webpages.
  • 38 Million printed materials (magazines, books, etc.).
  • 2.6 Million pieces of software
  • 11.6 Million videos files.
  • 15 Million audio files.
  • 4.7 Million images.

How many of those items do you think are there without permission (or possibly even knowledge) of the owners or creators?

Every single one now has an increasingly strong case when looking at potential legal action.

And it's about to get even worse for the Internet Archive.

 

UMG Recordings v. Internet Archive

 

That's right, the book publishers weren't the only ones taking legal action against Archive.org. 

Universal Music Group and Sony have an ongoing lawsuit against the Internet Archive -- regarding the distribution of 2,749 audio recordings (with potential damages upwards of $412 Million USD).

Seriously.

 

"Plaintiffs bring this suit to address Defendants’ massive ongoing violation of Plaintiffs’ rights in protected pre-1972 sound recordings. As part of what Defendants have dubbed the “Great 78 Project,” Internet Archive, Blood, and GBLP have willfully reproduced thousands of Plaintiffs’ protected sound recordings without authorization by copying physical records into digital files. Internet Archive then willfully uploaded, distributed, and digitally transmitted those illegally copied sound recordings millions of times from Internet Archive’s website."

 

Sound familiar?  Digital copies.  No permission from the artists or publishers.  Free downloads for everyone.

Naturally, the Internet Archive attempted to have this suit dismissed... but their attempt was denied in May of 2024.  (Because if there's one constant in life... it's that the Internet Archive always loses in court.)  That case is going forward.

 

 

What happens if the Internet Archive loses this UMG / Sony case?  What happens if they are ordered to pay $412 Million in damages?

To put it simply: Archive.org doesn't have that kind of money.  They bring in roughly $20 Million (give or take) per year.  That type of legal liability would absolutely destroy the Internet Archive.

 

 

And, here's the thing, the Internet Archive is almost assuredly going to lose that lawsuit as well.

Regardless of what you, I, or anyone else thinks of the Internet Archive -- and, make no mistake, I use that service several times a week (and love it) -- the law here is incredibly clear and well tested.

The Internet Archive runs one of the largest (if not the largest) website of pirated and stolen digital material on the planet.  Sure, it may also provide extremely valuable (and often, very legal) services as well.. but that doesn't make those crimes go away.

With each legal defeat, the Internet Archive grows increasingly vulnerable to additional attacks.

Simply being logical about it... it seems highly likely that we'll see additional suits brought against the Internet Archive in the months ahead.  Books, music, TV shows, software... Archive.org contains a massive mountain of copyrighted material in all areas.  These are suits which the Internet Archive would be almost certain to lose.

With this reality looming, how long until Archive.org will be forced to shut down entirely?  That day is likely not far off... and a sad day it will be.

 

The Archive Had to Know This Was Coming

 

The truly sad part?  The leadership of the Internet Archive had to know exactly what they were doing.

Every step of the way, it was obvious that they were going to lock horns with publishers (and lose).

Heck, I told them.  Repeatedly.

But, even if The Lunduke Journal hadn't pointed this out... it was a brutally obvious certainty to anyone even mildly familiar with copyright law and the workings of Archive.org.

Which means: The Internet Archive knowingly put their entire service at risk (including the Wayback Machine, the massive archive or pre-copyright audio recordings, etc.) because they wanted to publish copyrighted material against the wishes of the authors or publishers.

Despite this, they continue to push a public perception campaign where they pretend that publishers and authors are burning their own books.  When the reality is... the books are still available a wide variety of ways.  Archive.org simply got in trouble for copying and distributing them without permission.

 

 

Something I find truly fascinating about all of this, is that The Lunduke Journal will -- as usual -- get yelled at (rather extensively) for this article.  For simply pointing out the current reality of copyright law and how the Internet Archive has, knowingly, violated it.

People love Archive.org.  Heck, I love Archive.org.

And people are allowing their love for that website to convince them that anyone being critical of it... must, necessarily, be bad and evil.  An enemy.

But it is not The Lunduke Journal who is putting The Internet Archive in danger of being shut down.

Neither is it Sony, Hachette, Random House, or HarperCollins who are putting The Internet Archive in danger.

No, sir.

The only one putting The Internet Archive in danger... is The Internet Archive.

community logo
Join the Lunduke Community
To read more articles like this, sign up and join my community today
14
What else you may like…
Videos
Podcasts
Posts
Articles
Internet Archive Reaches Secret Settlement with Universal Music

Internet Archive Founder, Brewster Kahle, was the final hold-out in reaching a settlement. Which is being kept confidential.

More from The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.com/

00:10:54
CTO of Microsoft Azure: "USA is Fascist Regime"

Microsoft employees chanting "Go away, Jews!" Then Microsoft employees praising the murder of Charlie Kirk. Now the Microsoft Chief Technical Officer of Azure attacks the USA & Trump.

More from The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.com/

00:09:50
September 16, 2025
New Lunduke Journal Sub Perks, Lifetime Price Increase Next Week

DRM-Free PDF eBooks, games, an Exclusive Forum, and other goodies for Lunduke Journal Subscribers.

The details:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/7279764/new-lunduke-journal-sub-perks-lifetime-price-increase-next-week

More from The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.com/

00:06:16
November 22, 2023
The futility of Ad-Blockers

Ads are filling the entirety of the Web -- websites, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. -- at an increasing rate. Prices for those ad placements are plummeting. Consumers are desperate to use ad-blockers to make the web palatable. Google (and others) are desperate to break and block ad-blockers. All of which results in... more ads and lower pay for creators.

It's a fascinatingly annoying cycle. And there's only one viable way out of it.

Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links? Check here:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm

Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

The futility of Ad-Blockers
November 21, 2023
openSUSE says "No Lunduke allowed!"

Those in power with openSUSE make it clear they will not allow me anywhere near anything related to the openSUSE project. Ever. For any reason.

Well, that settles that, then! Guess I won't be contributing to openSUSE! 🤣

Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links?
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm

Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

openSUSE says "No Lunduke allowed!"
September 13, 2023
"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

This episode is free for all to enjoy and share.

Be sure to subscribe here at Lunduke.Locals.com to get all shows & articles (including interviews with other amazing nerds).

"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

You all, I think, will be very proud of me. All of my computers in the house, other than my desktop are now running Omarchy or Open Mandriva Linux.

Microsoft is so disgusting right now that I just can't not be using Linux.

I mean I am probably one of the most hardcore Windows developers on here. I still think a lot of my points are valid, but Microsoft is just so ethically bad that I can't support them willingly. I have to use Windows at work and development focuses on it in some cases.

BUT, I have already released 3 Linux based applications of my own, and that is something I NEVER thought I would do.

It is a crazy world.

https://github.com/2disbetter/

DHH backing Omarchy is the kind of support I was hoping would come to a desktop Linux distro. That it is Arch and uses Hyprland just makes me smile. I of course support xlibre, but I just really like Hyprland.

Anyway, figured this crowd would find all of this as ironic as I do. Hope you all are having a rad day!

Hey @Lunduke , I pinged you on X but not sure if you'll see it, so I'll share here.

There seems to be a small uprising on Bluesky to get DHH disassociated from Ruby on Rails, if you just go on BlueCry and search DHH you'll see the discussions. Don't know if it actually has legs.

Tech Writers and Their Horrible Reviews

Its review season as Apple’s new iPhones and AirPods Pro Gen 3 are out in the wild. So many reviewers vying to get their content out there. And I appreciate the effort most of the time. Ok, SOME of the time.

First annoyance are “first look” reviews that add nothing of value above what was put out by Apple PR. But if “First Look” or “Unboxing” is in the title, you know what you are in for.

I save most of my ire for tech reviewers writing about photo, video or sound. These are the worst quality reviews IMNSHO. So much time wasted on technical detail and testing…by people who don’t know beans about photography, video or music.

I pay attention to photographers who take the time to use a smartphone in the field, for their work. Some talentless shutter clicker who takes the same uninspired photo using 5 different cameras, then pixel peeping to declare which one was “the winner” is useless.

Austin Mann has year in and out created some of the ...

September 14, 2025
New Lunduke Journal Sub Perks, Lifetime Price Increase Next Week

A quick update: There are some new perks for Lunduke Journal subscribers, and an upcoming price increase for new Lifetime Subscriptions (if you want one of those at the lower price, you have a couple days).

All the details below.

Lifetime Subscription Price Increase

This coming Friday (September 19th), the price of a new Lifetime Subscription to The Lunduke Journal will be increasing from $200 to $300. I wanted to give all of you a few days notice so you could grab one at the lower rate.

If you want to pick up a Lifetime Subscription for the lower price, simply grab one (via Locals, Substack, or Bitcoin) by Thursday night (Sep 18th).

The prices for new Yearly and Monthly subscriptions will remain the same. No changes.

Reminder: The Lunduke Journal has phased out sales and discount promotions. The current price of a subscription is the best price.

New Perks for Lunduke Journal Subscribers

I am working on adding a few new perks for Lunduke Journal subscribers — a way of saying “Thank You” for making this work possible (while still keeping all of the articles and shows free for the world).

Here are the perks as of today.

Perks for all Subscribers (Monthly, Yearly, and Lifetime):

Note: The eBooks & Games are currently only available on Locals & Substack (due to platform features). Those perks will also become available to subscribers on X, YouTube, & Patreon next week. Stay tuned for access details.

Additional (Optional) Perks only for Lifetime Subscribers:

  • The Lunduke Journal will follow your account on X.

  • Your name (real, or internet handle) listed in a special thanks slide at the end of new Lunduke Journal videos.

Both of these perks are 100% optional.

If you are a Lifetime Subscriber, and would like to take advantage of either (or both), simply email “bryan at lunduke.com” with the subject line “Lifetime Perk” (that part is important, I get so many emails this will help me see yours) and include a link to your X profile and/or the way you want your name to appear at the end of videos.

One of the nice parts of having Lunduke Journal follow your X account… is it will make it far easier (and more likely) for me to see your comments.

Thank You

I am working to expand all of the regular perks (books, etc.) to subscribers across all platforms (which was a little tricky, considering the differences in each platform, but I managed to figure out how to do it) — while adding a few new ones as well.

Nothing crazy, just a way of saying “Thank You”.

Seriously.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your support. The Lunduke Journal is only possible thanks to each and every one of you.

-Lunduke

Read full Article
September 15, 2025
post photo preview
Lunduke Livestream: Tue, Sep 16 at 1pm Eastern

The Lunduke Journal regular live-streaming is back! The next show is Tuesday, September 16th (tomorrow) at 1pm Eastern (10am Pacific, 5pm UTC).

You can catch the live video, for free, on X, Rumble, YouTube, & Locals.

We’ve got a lot of Tech News to cover — and who knows what stories will pop up between now and then!

Time permitting, we’ll also be doing a little Nerdy Q & A. So, if you’ve got something you’d like to ask, join us in one of the chat rooms!

Also, quick reminder that the price of new Lifetime Subscription is going up this Friday. If you want one at the lower price, now’s your moment. We’ve also added some new perks for subscribers worth checking out.

See you nerd tomorrow!

-Lunduke

Read full Article
September 13, 2025
post photo preview
Lunduke's Week in Tech - Sep 13, 2025
Open Source Leftists Celebrate Murder, Censor Conservatives, and say "Free Software is White Supremacy".

So many stories this week about Leftist Activists, within Open Source and Big Tech, going absolutely insane.

From celebrating the murder of Charlie Kirk to censoring Conservatives and even equating Free and Open Source Software with White Supremacy. And there’s more.

What’s truly crazy to me, is that most of these cases of Leftist insanity are from leaders within Open Source. These are the people running projects and representing companies.

Seriously. It’s wild.

Here are the stories of the week, presented in reverse chronological order.

All of these links are to Substack (where you can watch the video or listen to the audio podcast) — but all of these stories are available for free on every platform which The Lunduke Journal publishes to. Use whichever platform works for you.

Only The Lunduke Journal Told These Stories

This week I am reminded why The Lunduke Journal is important.

Over the last 7 days, we published 13 stories.

Of those 13 stories only 2 were covered by any other Tech News outlet. Two.

And, in both of those 2 stories, The Lunduke Journal is the only Tech News outlet that covered them accurately — and without a pro-Big-Tech, Left Wing bias.

If we didn’t exist, the other 11 stories wouldn’t get told at all. How crazy is that?

Thankfully the stories are spreading — with people seeing them over 9 million times last month alone.

If you want to be part of making The Lunduke Journal possible, consider becoming a subscriber. Lots of options, big and small. And all go directly towards daily operations.

Might I make a suggestion?

The Lifetime Subscription (which counts towards both Substack and Locals — and last for life) is a marvelous, one time, way to show support. And it comes with all of the perks (access to the Locals community as well as the official Lunduke Journal forum, & DRM-free eBooks).

You can snag a Lifetime Subscription via Locals, Substack, or with Bitcoin.

But, heck, any type of subscription (via any platform) is appreciated! Choose whichever works best for you!

Then be sure to go to Lunduke.com and choose the platforms which are the most convenient for you to use — The Lunduke Journal publishes all over the Inter-Tubes!

And, once again, thank you to every subscriber. This work is only possible because of you. You rule.

-Lunduke

Read full Article
See More
Available on mobile and TV devices
google store google store app store app store
google store google store app tv store app tv store amazon store amazon store roku store roku store
Powered by Locals