“One question that has emerged frequently these past three years, is how? How have libraries provided access to copyrighted materials for remote users? How were students able to access copyrighted materials at the height of the pandemic? When we think of a classroom, most of us consider a traditional space with walls and students together in one room. The logistics for students to access library materials from their homes seemed insurmountable to some because the copyright laws surrounding how students and teachers can gain remote access is complex. Section 110(1) sets a generous standard for how content may be used, but it only applies to face-to-face instruction. Section 110(2), the TEACH Act, allows the digital transmission of copyrighted materials, but only under limited circumstances and the requirements are difficult for many educational institutions to achieve. With these competing sections of the Copyright Act, what was the solution?…
Although the IA had announced their intention to end the emergency access by June 30, 2020, they ended the program two weeks early when publishers Hachette, Penguin Random House, Wiley, and HarperCollins announced that they would sue the IA for copyright infringement. On June 1, 2020, the publishers and several authors filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. But this case, Hachette v. Internet Archive, is not about the expanded access IA provided during the pandemic. It is a challenge to how we can use materials in a digital age and how fair use supports our right to do so….”