UMG, Sony Music, and other labels sue the Internet Archive for copyright infringement, saying its Great 78 Project works as an “illegal record store” for songs
Who benefits? — https://www.reuters.com/... John Sullivan / @johns@social.librem.one : Did these record labels really just argue that because something is available on a *streaming* service, there is no reason to worry it may become unavailable? https://torrentfreak.com/... Ian Betteridge / @ianbetteridge@writing.exchange : Hmmm, now what's the phrase I'm looking for? Oh yeah - the record labels are parasites on creative people and should go to hell. — https://www.reuters.com/... James Grimmelmann / @jtlg@mastodon.lawprofs.org : The Internet Archive, having learned nothing from losing a copyright infringement suit to the publishing industry, is now being sued by the record industry. It is deeply frustrating to watch the Archive put the invaluable work it does at risk with its recklessness distributing works under active commercial exploitation. … Bryan Smart / @bryansmart@mstdn.social : @Techmeme @jaybird110127 WTF? These are 78 RPM records, recorded a hundred years ago. The artists are dead. The musicians are dead. Their children are probably dead. If you're trying to live off a song your grandfather played on 100 years ago, then I don't give a shit about how your time on Multi-generational Leach street may be at an end. … @alks@todon.eu : The Internet Archive, who barely just got out of its battle against top publishing houses, is now attacked by major record labels. — https://www.reuters.com/... X: Brewster Kahle / @brewster_kahle : Now the Washington lawyers want to destroy digital collections of scratchy 78rpm records, 70-120 year old, built by dedicated preservationists online since 2006. Who benefits? https://www.reuters.com/... Adam Pierno / @apierno : Streisand effect in 3, 2, 1 Ryan W. Mead / @rwmead : As much as I hate siding with the music industry on this one, regardless of whose side you were on in the Internet Archive's lending library case, this “Great 78 Project” is an even more blatant and clear-cut thievery of easily accessible content: https://www.reuters.com/... Ted Gioia / @tedgioia : Sony and other labels sue the Internet Archive for its project to preserve rare 78 rpm recordings online. https://www.reuters.com/... As I've noted elsewhere, the record business worships the 3 L's: litigation, legislation, and lobbying. Rory Mitchell / @rorycmitchell : It's called a library, folks. @technology : Sony and other music companies sue the non-profit Internet Archive for posting old copyright-protected records online https://www.bloomberg.com/... Forums: Hacker News : Record Labels File $412M Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against Internet Archive r/trackers : Record Labels Hit Internet Archive With New $400m+ Copyright Lawsuit * TorrentFreak See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
The case extends the Internet Archive’s copyright conflict beyond ebooks: earlier in 2023, publishers won a ruling over its Controlled Digital Lending program, putting its approach to making archived works available under legal scrutiny.
For music, the dispute centers on whether a preservation project can provide access to recordings that rights holders characterize as commercially available. It matters because the Archive’s mission sits directly against labels’ control over reproduction and distribution.
First-order effects
- The Internet Archive must defend the Great 78 Project against claims from UMG, Sony Music, and other labels, placing the project’s access model under immediate legal pressure.
- The labels are asserting that availability through streaming does not eliminate their right to control copies of the recordings, reinforcing their licensing position around older catalogs.
Second-order effects
- Other digital preservation projects may need to reassess whether their access practices require licenses, particularly when material remains subject to active music rights.
- The dispute sharpens a practical divide between preservation access and commercial streaming: rights holders can use litigation to press archives toward narrower access or negotiated terms.
Third-order effects
- If this approach is sustained, preservation institutions may increasingly need rights-holder agreements rather than relying on lending-style or archival rationales for online access to copyrighted media.
- The case is part of a broader test of whether digital archives can preserve cultural works while offering public access, or whether preservation and access become institutionally separated.
The trend: Copyright enforcement is increasingly defining the limits of digital-library migration, especially where nonprofit preservation platforms make copyrighted media broadly accessible online.