Publishers accuse Internet Archive of ‘stonewalling’ discovery

In the US, lawyers representing publishers in a copyright lawsuit against the Internet Archive over the scanning and lending of print library books are claiming that the Internet Archive is withholding documents from discovery, reports Publishers Weekly.

The publishers’ suit in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, filed last year, is asking the court to issue permanent injunctions against the Internet Archive’s scanning, public display and distribution of literary works, which are made available through sites such as its Open Library and the National Emergency Library. The publishers include Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, John Wiley & Sons and Penguin Random House.

Lawyers for the publishers have cited seven ‘categories’ of requested documents they allege the Internet Archive is yet to turn over. They claim the Internet Archive is ‘stonewalling’ and ‘hoping to run out the clock’ on the discovery process, which is set to close in mid-December.

‘Discovery has proceeded slowly, in large part because IA delayed a substantial portion of its document production until toward the end of the extended deadline for document discovery,’ the publishers’ lawyers wrote.

A conference is scheduled for 2 December to discuss discovery issues from both sides. Internet Archive lawyers have previously alleged the publishers are not complying with their discovery requests.

Category: International news