Thread by @KyleKCourtney

#ControlledDigitalLending is a method by which #libraries loan books. Publishers are suing to get rid of CDL for good. This is not just an @internetarchive lawsuit, it is an attack on all libraries rights to loan, preserve, & provide access to books. blog.archive.org/2020/07/29/int… /1

Ultimately, this suit about how libraries can continue do what they have always done: lend books. #ControlledDigitalLending is not a brand-new concept. Libraries have loaned books to patrons for centuries. And #libraries DO NOT NEED permission or a license to loan these books /2

Libraries can legally loan books they have purchased or acquired. #Copyright law covers these exact uses. So why are publishers suing over #ControlledDigitalLending? /3

The difference is in the law, mission, technology, and business models. Vendors and publishers must ask permission, they must license, this is their business model. They want to eradicate anything that is a different model. And #libraries, by their very nature, are different. /4

Historically, #libraries are special creatures of #copyright. Libraries have a legally authorized mandate under the law to complete their mission by providing access to materials. Congress placed many these specialized exemptions for libraries in the Copyright Act itself /5

#Libraries unique role in #copyright law is that they sit right in the middle of the economic purpose of copyright (buy the books!) and the access purpose of copyright (loan the books!) /6

Or in the #copyright Constitutional narrative #libraries “Promote the Progress of Science and the Useful Arts.” Libraries have historically provided unfettered access and freedom to borrow the books they purchase. /7

This @internetarchive lawsuit is also part of a greater concern: the rise of out-of-control licensing culture. Any #ebook or e-media license we agree to removes our #firstsale ownership rights over purchased materials because a license is a lease or rental, not a sale! /8

Our Kindle books? Rented, not owned. Our Netflix movies? Rented at best. So these licenses are eviscerating the critical #copyright #firstsale exceptions and other rights that every user, not just #libraries, have under copyright. It's a nefarious plan! /9

The lawsuit is strategically designed as a shot across the bow, warning that "The future is licensing only." This is the culmination of decades of actions by publishers to strip away the right to own & loan. It might turn every #library into Netflix or Hulu. Subscription only /10

Result: No ownership. No rights. Unable to loan books, movies, music, magazines, etc. Forcing #libraries and the public to agree to a restrictive rental license for EVERYTHING. This would greatly impact our preservation and access to our culture! /11

At its core #controlleddigitallending preserves the legal and economically significant aspects of physical lending. In other words, it continues to preserve the POWER OF THE PRINT! A #library has both significant legal usage rights and great fiscal value in its collections /12

#Library systems have spent millions upon millions of dollars to make their collections accessible to the community. I believe #controlleddigitallending's structure preserves that value by enhancing access of these works to the public through use of technology. /13

And yes, this @internetarchive lawsuit is also about technology. Specifically, tech being used to enhance access to materials. Just because #libraries are using technology for #ControlledDigitalLending, does not mean that suddenly these acts are “new” or illegal /14

Again, #Libraries have special authority under #copyright law provide access to information via loans and preserve materials for the long-term. Publishers do not. They don't care about long term access, they care about the next fiscal quarter and license growth /15

When Congress legislated the #copyright exceptions, it made it possible for #libraries to fulfill their “vital function in society” by enabling the lending of books to benefit the general learning, research, & intellectual enrichment of readers by allowing access to materials/16

And arguably, now that we are in the 21st century, why should we not use technology to allow this loaning to continue online? Let #libraries use technology (the same used by the publishers for example) to INCREASE access to these works (especially during a pandemic!) /17

And this is especially true for 20th century works that are in #libraries; they have not been available in the digital world. This called the #20thCenturyBlackHole. Many 20th Century books are not available for purchase as new copies in print or as digital versions online /18

#Libraries would like to provide digital access, but many rightsholders have not offered those titles for sale in any digital format. #ControlledDigitalLending helps to fill in the void by harnessing the library’s special role in copyright to broaden digital access /19

As many students & patrons say: "if it’s not available digitally, it might as well not exist." Think about the value to the world if some of the long-lost print works – not really lost, just trapped on the shelves - which have enormously high social & scholarly value... /20

...were made available to the public for reading, quoting, citing, adaptation, and other uses (@Wikipedia references anyone)? So #libraries should not have to re-buy a license for every book in its collection! Preserve the power of the print! /21

[I am realizing this got too long for a normal Twitter read! Apologies but here's the finale! #copyright #libraries #controlleddigitallending] /22

Here is my #copyright #libraries #controlleddigitallending platform: /23

I reject out-of-control licensing culture; you do not need a license for everything!

I reject any devaluation of print collections legal & fiscal value

I reject fear of technology preventing legitimate legal uses within #library non-profit, educational research-based mission/24

I embrace #fairuse’s flexibility as a right

I encourage use of library's federal copyright “superpowers”

I support copyright’s real public purpose: to promote the progress of science and the useful arts”

I support #ControlledDigitalLending /FIN