Authors Guild has abandoned the claim to libraries for scanning books
For several years now, the Authors Guild of the USA (Authors Guild) has been trying to get license fees from university libraries to scan books and provide access to content in digital form. The lawsuit was filed against the organization Hathitrust, which heads the project of scanning books in the interests of several libraries, writes Techdirt.
Back in 2012, the district court ruled that the actions of Hathitrust are an obvious example of fair use, and in June 2014 the appellate court confirmed this decision.
Now the Authors Guild finally finally admitted defeat. In the court filed a settlement agreement , which reported the waiver of claims.
True, the Authors Guild made concessions with a number of reservations. Firstly, the agreement is valid for five years. Secondly, copyright holders reserve the right to revise it and resume the legal process if universities change the conditions for accessing digital copies of books (it is allowed to use them as a replacement for lost, stolen and damaged books).
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Thus, the Authors Guild formally retained the position, although in practice it abandoned its claims.
At the same time, it should be noted that the Authors Guild has not yet intended to surrender in virtually the same process against Google and Google Books. Although there events are developing in a similar scenario. The court of first instance rejected the claims of the right holders, and now the case is being considered in the court of appeal. Recently, the parties presented their arguments, while the Authors Guild made some strange theses . For example, they said that Google Books could be hacked and there were concerns in the light of "one MIT student" who distributed research papers because he believed that "information should be free."
This is an obvious reference to the case of Aaron Schwartz, who tried to provide open access to free information located behind a paid firewall. For this, the authorities filed dozens of charges against the activist, who collectively dragged on for 35 years in prison (even the FBI and the US Secret Service were involved in the case). January 11 marks two years since the suicide of Aaron Schwartz .
Back in 2012, the district court ruled that the actions of Hathitrust are an obvious example of fair use, and in June 2014 the appellate court confirmed this decision.
Now the Authors Guild finally finally admitted defeat. In the court filed a settlement agreement , which reported the waiver of claims.
True, the Authors Guild made concessions with a number of reservations. Firstly, the agreement is valid for five years. Secondly, copyright holders reserve the right to revise it and resume the legal process if universities change the conditions for accessing digital copies of books (it is allowed to use them as a replacement for lost, stolen and damaged books).
')
Thus, the Authors Guild formally retained the position, although in practice it abandoned its claims.
At the same time, it should be noted that the Authors Guild has not yet intended to surrender in virtually the same process against Google and Google Books. Although there events are developing in a similar scenario. The court of first instance rejected the claims of the right holders, and now the case is being considered in the court of appeal. Recently, the parties presented their arguments, while the Authors Guild made some strange theses . For example, they said that Google Books could be hacked and there were concerns in the light of "one MIT student" who distributed research papers because he believed that "information should be free."
This is an obvious reference to the case of Aaron Schwartz, who tried to provide open access to free information located behind a paid firewall. For this, the authorities filed dozens of charges against the activist, who collectively dragged on for 35 years in prison (even the FBI and the US Secret Service were involved in the case). January 11 marks two years since the suicide of Aaron Schwartz .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/375489/
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