Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. unauthorized
    • ex. The man was arrested for selling unauthorized movie copies on the internet.
  2. challenge
    • ex. Mandy lost the competition, but she decided to challenge the referee’s decision.
  3. sue
    • ex. The writer sued the book publisher because it used his ideas without permission.
  4. lending
    • ex. The library is famous for its lending service. People can borrow books anytime.
  5. an injunction
    • ex. The company got an injunction to stop its stores from selling fake products.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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The Internet Archive, an online library, has lost a long copyright case about sharing unauthorized e-books for free. The U.S. Court of Appeals said that the Internet Archive broke copyright laws by offering free copies of books. The Internet Archive decided not to challenge the decision in the U.S. Supreme Court.

The case started in 2020 when Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, John Wiley & Sons, and Penguin Random House, sued the Internet Archive for offering more than 100 books for free. These books included works by authors like Toni Morrison and J.D. Salinger. The Internet Archive argued that its method of scanning and lending books, called “controlled digital lending,” was legal under fair use laws. However, the court disagreed and gave the online library a permanent injunction to stop sharing certain books.

The publishers who won the case were happy with the result. They said the court’s decision shows that the online library’s actions were illegal. The Internet Archive’s director expressed disappointment but said the online library would continue to follow requests from publishers to remove books from its service.

This material was based on an article by The Associated Press.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Online Libraries

  • Which do you think is better: physical libraries or online libraries? Why? Discuss.
  • Do you think it’s fair for the Internet Archive to be punished for sharing copies of e-books for free? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • What do you think libraries will look like in the future, considering the rise of digital technology? Discuss.

E-Books

  • Do you like reading e-books? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • In your opinion, how has the availability of e-books changed the way we read and access books? Discuss.
  • Do you agree that e-books may harm the book industry and authors? Why or why not? Discuss.