book battles

An Ars Technica piece discussing the legal battle between four major publishers and the Internet Archive. Boils down to what is “fair use” when it comes to digital versions of books, and what harms exist when people are allowed to freely “borrow” an eBook. It will be interesting to see where the court lands, and the key point may end up being whether or not there are financial (or other) harms that occur rather than the philosophical spirit of IP law.