Internet Archive accused of using Covid-19 as 'an excuse for piracy'

The ‘National Emergency Library’ has made 1.4m ebooks freely available, many by current bestsellers, and sparked outrage from writers’ organisations

The Internet Archive has launched a “National Emergency Library”, making 1.4m books available free online – but has been accused of “hitting authors when they’re down” by denying them sales of books that are still in copyright.

Founded in 1996 to archive web pages, the IA began digitising books in 2005. It has long been at loggerheads with writers’ organisations who have accused it of uploading books that are not in the public domain, and denying authors potential income from sales and public library borrowing.

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