The American digital library, Internet Archive, was founded on May 10, 1996, by free information advocate Brewster Kahle. The Archive had first started to archive and preserve the World Wide Web in large amounts by October 1996. Internet Archive is an activist organization promoting a free and open Internet.
The website offers free access to collections of digital versions of materials like websites, audiovisuals, software applications, music, and print materials. Its web archive, the Wayback Machine, is collectively one of the world’s largest book digitization efforts containing hundreds of billions of web captures.
The Archive holds more than 36 million print materials, 2.5 million software programs, 15 million audio files, 11.6 million pieces of audiovisual content, 251,000 concerts, 4.5 million images, and over 808 billion web pages in its Wayback Machine as estimated on January 1, 2023.
Their main aim in creating this is to make universal access to all knowledge possible for everyone.
Music Labels Sue Internet Archive for Copyright Infringement Over Digitized 78s
Sony Music Entertainment and other major music companies have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the nonprofit Internet Archive. They claim that the organization’s digitization and online posting of thousands of old songs and other recordings make up to “wholesale theft” of copyrighted music.
The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, asserts that the Internet Archive’s “blatant infringement” involves hundreds of thousands of works by renowned artists from the 20th Century, including Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, and Thelonious Monk.
Francis Albert Sinatra was a singer and actor who was primarily based in America. Francis Sinatra was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, America, on December 12, 1915. He was born to Natalina Garaventa and Antonio Martino Sinatra. Frank Sinatra is best known to be the best artist of the mid-20th Century.
He is popularly considered the world’s best-selling artist in the music industry. Frank Sinatra began his career in music by signing a contract with Columbia Records in the year 1943. Very excited female fans of traditional pop music during the period of 1940s called ‘bobby Soxers’ idolized Frank Sinatra. Frank Sinatra released his first album in the year 1946, which was named ‘The Voice of Frank Sinatra.’
Artists at the Center of the Dispute
The music companies have listed 2,749 recordings in the lawsuit, including iconic tracks like Bing Crosby’s rendition of “White Christmas.” However, they emphasize that this list is only a small fraction of the copyrighted material posted without permission.
The companies are seeking court orders to remove all copyrighted content and damages potentially amounting to $150,000 for each infringed work, which could tally up to $372 million for the specified recordings.
The Internet Archive maintains a vast digital collection of text, video, and music online, with its “Great 78 Project” specifically focusing on digitized copies of records in the outdated 78 LP format. The Archive boasts over 400,000 recordings on its website, aiming for the “preservation, research, and discovery of 78rpm records.”
However, the record companies dismiss the Archive’s intentions as a “smokescreen” to hide its alleged theft. They contend that these recordings are already available on authorized streaming services and are not at risk of being lost, forgotten, or destroyed.
Lawsuit Details and Damages
The lawsuit highlights the tension between preserving cultural artifacts and respecting copyright protections. The Internet Archive argues that its efforts serve the purpose of preserving historical and cultural materials for future generations to study and enjoy. On the other hand, the record companies claim that the Archive is operating as an “illegal record store.”
Internet Archive’s Preservation Efforts
This legal dispute is not the Internet Archive’s first encounter with copyright-related lawsuits. The organization is currently facing another lawsuit from leading book publishers regarding its digital-book lending program, which they argue infringes on their copyrights. In that case, a federal judge ruled against the Archive, a decision that the organization intends to appeal.
While the Internet Archive’s mission is rooted in the preservation of knowledge and culture, how this lawsuit will impact its initiatives and the broader discussions surrounding copyright protection and digital preservation remains to be seen.
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