by Rhoda Wilson

The lawsuit hinges on the question of whether e-books are books, subject to the existing laws governing the sale of books, or whether the publishers can redefine e-books as temporary, rental-only media – a new class of unownable goods, like streaming-only films from Disney or subscription-only software from Microsoft. But libraries must have the option to buy and own their books – all their books, including e-books – and own them absolutely.

This threat to the ownership of books is what makes the ongoing publishers' lawsuit against the Internet Archive politically dangerous and in an altogether different way from earlier challenges and amendments to copyright law. At a time of increasing book bannings and attacks on libraries, public schools and universities, it is not safe for democracy, or for our cultural posterity, to leave an "on/off" switch for library books in the hands of corporate publishers.