I thought it was individual authors suing and I could see why they wouldn’t want their works being on Internet Archive. Seeing how it’s actually the most popular book publishers…
A real library is expensive to maintain and adding new additions means even more money with fees and buying more copies if a title is very popular. The public libraries I’ve been to have been empty even right before COVID. I can’t see physical libraries lasting much longer, especially with book bans and defunding.
Most libraries are now hooked up to Libby and rely on ebook licenses for their own library. Ebook licenses are the worst because most popular books are leased on a time limit or cycles (amount of people that read the copy). So if they have something really popular like Harry Potter, that could add up really quick depending.
It’s just like how music streaming services are paying musicians and singers peanuts for their streamed songs while the companies get everything else. Authors already don’t make enough money on royalties as it is, so this is all to line the publisher’s pockets more than anything.
Hope that somebody else will preserve what the Internet Archive can’t in spite of these greedy companies. This along with old recorded music is getting ridiculous.