March 27, 2020
COMMENT FROM AAP PRESIDENT AND CEO MARIA PALLANTE ON THE INTERNET ARCHIVE’S “NATIONAL EMERGENCY LIBRARY”
“We are stunned by the Internet Archive’s aggressive, unlawful, and opportunistic attack on the rights of authors and publishers in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“Publishers are working tirelessly to support the public with numerous, innovative, and socially-aware programs that address every side of the crisis: providing free global access to research and medical journals that pertain to the virus; offering complementary digital education materials to schools and parents; and expanding powerful storytelling platforms for readers of all ages.
“It is the height of hypocrisy that the Internet Archive is choosing this moment – when lives, livelihoods and the economy are all in jeopardy – to make a cynical play to undermine copyright, and all the scientific, creative, and economic opportunity that it supports.”
See AAP’s previous statement on the flawed theory of “controlled digital lending” here.
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