A federal judge has ruled against the Internet Archive in Hatchette v. Internet Archive a lawsuit brought against it by four book publishers, deciding that the website does not have the right to scan books and lend them out like a library. Judge John G. Koeltl decided that the Internet Archive had done nothing more than create “derivative works,” and so would have needed authorization from the books’ copyright holders — the publishers — before lending them out through its National Emergency Library program.

The two sides went to court on Monday. We’ve asked the Internet Archive if it plans to appeal.

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