The Internet Archive went before a three-judge panel Friday to defend its open library’s controlled digital lending practices after book publishers last year won a lawsuit claiming that the archive’s lending violated copyright law. During a press briefing following arguments in court Friday, IA founder Brewster Kahle said that “Those voices weren’t being heard.” Judges appeared primarily focused on understanding how IA’s digital lending potentially hurts publishers’ profits in the ebook licensing market, rather than on how publishers’ costly ebook licensing potentially harms readers. Should the court decide otherwise, McSherry warned, the court risks allowing “a few powerful publishers” to “Hijack the future of books.”

Source: Ars Technica