Internet Archive

Justice Dept. to Probe Google Book Settlement With Authors

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 29, 2009 - 7:30am.

Washington - The U.S. Justice Department has launched an antitrust probe into the settlement being negotiated between Google (NASD: GOOG) and authors over the company's book-scanning service, The New York Times reported, citing two people briefed on the matter. Justice Department lawyers have reportedly been in conversations in recent weeks with groups that oppose the deal, such as the Internet Archive and Consumer Watchdog.

U.S. Appeals Court Rejects Challenge to Copyright Term Lengths

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 23, 2007 - 10:03am.

San Francisco - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has rejected an appeal from Internet activists, including Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle, that would have reexamined the extensions to copyright term lengths enacted during the 1990s.

Lawsuit Seeks More Public Domain Works for Internet Archive

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 20, 2004 - 3:59am.

San Francisco -- An Internet archivist and film collector have filed a lawsuit hoping to change copyright laws so that "orphaned" copyrighted works, or works that are out of print and not commercially viable but still protected by copyright, would be moved to the "public domain," where they could be used freely, Wired News reported. Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle and film collector Rick Prelinger filed the suit -- Kahle v. Ashcroft -- in March; since then the government has filed a motion to dismiss, and the plaintiffs an opposition to that motion. The plaintiffs want to digitize orphaned copyright works such as films to add to a free online library. "Because of the indiscriminate nature of copyright today, the burden of copyright regulation extends to work whether or not the original author has any need for continuing protection," the Kahle lawsuit reads. "That unnecessary burden blocks the cultivation of our culture and the spread of knowledge." The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California will hear arguments on Oct. 29.

tags: lawsuit | Public Domain | Internet Archive |