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Judge Eviscerates Internet Archive’s Scanning and Lending Program

In an emphatic 47-page opinion, federal judge John G. Koeltl found the Internet Archive infringed the copyrights of four plaintiff publishers by scanning and lending their books under a legally contested practice known as CDL (controlled digital lending). And after three years of contentious legal wrangling, the case wasn’t even close.

“At bottom, IA’s fair use defense rests on the notion that lawfully acquiring a copyrighted print book entitles the recipient to make an unauthorized copy and distribute it in place of the print book, so long as it does not simultaneously lend the print book,” Koeltl wrote in a March 24 opinion granting the publisher plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and denying the Internet Archive’s cross-motion. “But no case or legal principle supports that notion. Every authority points in the other direction.” Read more

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What Readers Hate Most in Books

A few weeks ago, I asked readers of our Book Club newsletter to describe the things that most annoy them in books. The responses were a tsunami of bile. Apparently, book lovers have been storing up their pet peeves in the cellar for years, just waiting for someone to ask. Hundreds and hundreds of people responded, exceeding my wildest dreams. Read more

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Gillian Anderson Asks Women to Send Her Their Sexual Fantasies

Anderson, who plays forthright sex therapist Jean Milburn in the blockbuster Netflix series “Sex Education,” has posted a video on Instagram and explained that she’s “launching a major exploration of women and sex.” Seated on a burgundy armchair, the 54-year-old actress appeared relaxed as she asked women to send her their “most personal desires” for a book she said she is “curating.” Read more

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