digital libraries

All free…with a library card. One way to lower your costs: Lean into your local library’s free digital perks, which go well beyond ebooks. (Libraries also offer plenty of nondigital perks, such as museum passes and ukulele loans as well as bike repairs.) Newsletter Sign-up Technology A…

A judge ruled against Internet Archive, a free online digital library, on Friday in a lawsuit filed by four top publishers who claimed the company was in violation of copyright laws. The publishers, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, John Wiley & Sons, and Penguin Random House filed the lawsuit against Internet Archive in 2020, claiming the company had illegally scanned and uploaded 127 of their books for readers to download for free, detracting from their sales and the authors’ royalties.U.S. District Court Judge…

A federal judge on Monday will weigh pleas by four major book publishers to stop an online lending library from freely offering digital copies of books, in a case that raises novel questions about digital-library rights and the reach of copyright law that protects the work of writers and publishers. Nonprofit organization Internet Archive created the digital books, building its collection by scanning physical book copies in its possession. It lends the digital versions to readers worldwide, with more than three million…

An older woman walks up to the library’s manga graphic-novel section. On-screen text questions whether a 78-year-old should read the comic books. She picks a book off the shelf, sticks her tongue out and flips the bird. More text appears: “I’m 90.”The 12-second video produced by the Milwaukee Public Library has attracted more than 10 million views across TikTok and Instagram since November. A quick scroll through the library’s TikTok videos reveals a host of memes and pop-culture parodies featuring Wednesday Addams,…