Online content providers should be aware that copyright infringement can still be asserted even under unprecedented effects associated with the current pandemic. Since the COVID-19 emergency shut down brick and mortar libraries, the establishment of the national emergency library to support and encourage books and reading backfired on the Internet Archive because:

• it significantly expanded its offerings to include materials that are still under copyright protection;

• the offerings created a new free source for students who must rely on remote learning, cutting the potential for profit from the rightful copyright owners; and

• the free offerings of the copyrighted works created widespread infringement due to the pandemic’s closure of brick-and-mortar institutions.   

Read about why the Internet Archive got sued for establishing the national emergency library and offering free books during the pandemic.