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Blackmask’s pirate owner, put out of business by a lawsuit, did not restrict access. By contrast, the Internet Archive uses DRM to control access to some extent. Now that physical libraries are beginning to reopen, it could be harder to justify the National Emergency Library’s practice of loans of individual titles to unlimited numbers of users at once. But otherwise, with limits on the number of simultaneous checkouts, controlled digital lending is a far cry from what Blackmask was up to. Such a practice by the archive reflects the philosophy behind the doctrine of the right of first sale. I’d rather not see such a doctrine weakened, perhaps eventually affecting even paper library books. It sounds far-fetched. But considering the Trump Administration’s efforts to remake the judiciary branch, anything is possible long term.

That said, I can also see the writers and publishers’ side. The archive may or may not have the legal right to do controlled digital lending, but it ideally will also consider the moral issues here and arrive at a compromise with creators, especially of recent books.

As I see, the real issue is how precious little we are spending on intellectual property—for instance, just $1.5 billion a year by U.S. public libraries for content of all kinds. A mix of increased philanthropic and public funding could multiply this amount and expand the number of available titles. This is why I continue to favor a national library endowment (libraryendowment.org).

Edit: Here’s the Internet Archive’s March defense of the National Emergency Library.

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Continuing it after libraries reopen would not be fair to publishers.

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