So the Internet Archive believes that copyright protection for creative works should extend no more than five years past the date of publication?
I'm all for copyright reform, but that's a preposterously short period. One hundred years ago, copyright lasted for 28 years, with the potential to renew for another 28 years.
Even if you went back to that copyright term WITHOUT the renewal, five years is still less than 20 percent of that.
Please don't strawman the IA's position. They suspended the waitlist of (parts of) their library collection for 3 months during a global pandemic that necessitated the closure of physical libraries. The books still cannot be redistributed freely and will have to be returned.
Was that legal? Possibly not, so authors and rights holders do have a grievance. But personally, I'm going to judge anyone who's going to the courts instead of merely opting out.
I'm all for copyright reform, but that's a preposterously short period. One hundred years ago, copyright lasted for 28 years, with the potential to renew for another 28 years.
Even if you went back to that copyright term WITHOUT the renewal, five years is still less than 20 percent of that.