A Timeline of The National Emergency Library Controversy

The spread of the disease reaches such high levels that the World Health Organization officially declares COVID-19 a pandemic[5].

Social distancing measures led colleges and universities to turn to remote learning.

Copyright Specialists and Librarians across the US release a public statement[7] on what constitutes fair use and what steps educators can take to avoid infringing on copyright, while still being able to provide access to educational materials for students.

In light of recent events, The Internet Archive officially launches the National Emergency Library[9].

Different from IA’s standard lending, where only one user can borrow a given item at a time, throughout the NEL program waitlists are suspended, allowing for multiple people to borrow the same item.

The Association of American Publishers[12] and The Author’s Guild of America[13] both condemn the NEL form of loaning to be “uncontrolled” and “infringing”.

IA addresses misunderstandings and misconceptions about the NEL.

Furthermore, authors are reminded that they have the chance to issue take-downs of their books, if they feel their rights to have been infringed. [16]

Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on IP Chairman Thom Tillis sends a warning letter to Brewster Kahle of IA, expressing his concerns over the legal basis of the NEL initiative[18].

Hachette, HarperCollins, Wiley and Penguin Random House sue IA for their NEL program as well as their OpenLibrary program, which long predates the COVID-19 crisis[19].

NEL is expected to shutdown.