The largest non-profit bookstore with free books to read freely has suffered a severe setback after receiving complaints from several publishers. And it is that, after offering the free access to 1,3 million creative writing To combat the lack of communication in the middle of the Coronavirus quarantine, the service has been forced to stop giving access freely.
The National Emergency Library
With the name of National Emergency Library, the Internet Archive offered no less than 1,3 million books in dozens of languages from around the world, novels, reference books and even video game books, all completely free. It was a way to combat the isolation of university professors, schools and the general public affected by the confinement, so the idea was great.
But a certain sector was not too happy with the idea. It is the book publishers who claimed that this measure violated the intellectual property law and did nothing more than "constitute a system of digital piracy on an industrial scale." The publisher group consists of Hachette, HarperCollins, Wiley, and Penguin Random House.
The power of these publishers is such that it only took a first lawsuit against Internet Archive for the service to have decided to withdraw the free downloads immediately. Well actually he will next time 15 June, two weeks before the date on which it was scheduled to close, which was June 30. But the fact is that they have closed before the account due to the pressure exerted.
The closure of a virtual bookstore
This has been announced by the Internet Archive itself, reporting that on June 15 the National Emergency Library will close its doors to make way for the classic system of controlled digital loans. In all, no less than 1.325.660 books They will no longer be available for free reading, since to access them it was only necessary to have a free service account and use the electronic book reader integrated into the website itself.
If you're curious, you still have time to take a look, since it won't be until the 15th when the emergency library closes its doors forever (well, to be exact, it will go to the controlled loan model).
A much needed idea
The intention of creating a free access library seeks nothing more than to be able to help thousands of people around the world. The Internet Archive itself has demonstrated this, citing some cases of professionals who needed key documentation in moments as difficult as those suffered during the epidemic, but it seems that these examples have not been enough to relax the spirits of the publishers.
But Internet Archive's intentions don't end there, and they hope they can find a viable way to build a digital system that meets the requirements and benefits us all.