Shadow library

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shadow libraries are full-text databases on the Internet which, like traditional libraries , can be viewed publicly and which violate applicable copyright regulations . Based on corresponding actions in relation to software, music or films, there is also talk of “book piracy”. Shadow libraries are often established in order to give a broad public access to paid academic literature against the background of the so-called journal crisis. In addition to the political demand that publicly funded research results should be freely available to everyone ( Open Access) - a further reaction to the sometimes exorbitantly high prices, especially for scientific literature.

controversy

The controversies over shadow libraries run along lines similar to those on the generalized case of media piracy. On the one hand, shadow libraries question common business models of publishers and are problematized from this side. Even in relation to traditional libraries, which are economically dependent on the publishing industry and vice versa, shadow libraries are often faster, easier to access, more extensively equipped and cheaper, and are consequently perceived as a threat to the library system.

Projects

One of the largest shadow libraries in 2015 was the Library Genesis project , sometimes also called Aleph . More Shadows libraries are the gateway services TorBoox , Imperial Library of Trantor and Jotunbane's Reading Club . The Sci-Hub project seeks the public more than other shadow libraries. Sci-Hub propagates the so-called guerrilla open access more consciously than other projects .

Legal classification

Shadow libraries violate the copyright of the authors or publishers or other authorized persons and are therefore illegal. As a result, lawsuits from publishers have increasingly been granted. For example, the science publisher Elsevier was awarded $ 15 million in damages by a New York court in the summer of 2017 in a lawsuit against Sci-Hub.

The use of shadow libraries by readers, on the other hand, has been judged more differently in the literature. In the absence of relevant judgments in this country, the discussion falls back on literature and case law on streaming films from unlawful sources.

It has been argued that reading pirated writings on the screen is permitted as a mere enjoyment of a work, only saving and printing offenses against copyright law. This is because the latter would not be “required” within the meaning of § 53 II 1 No. 1 UrhG. Reading scientific literature does not usually involve any special costs for library users. Even if the interlibrary loan is used for this, only small fees would arise, which are hardly of any consequence. However, it should be borne in mind that the mere reading enjoyment also represents a pecuniary advantage because, for example, it saves expenses for the use of chargeable services that also only allow read access (Section 44a No. 2 UrhG). The copyright holder Eric Steinhauer therefore came to the conclusion in 2016 that reading texts from the shadow library Sci-Hub takes place “in a legal gray area”.

In contrast, in 2017 the European Court of Justice affirmed a copyright infringement on the part of the user with regard to viewing films from unlawful online sources. The decision has subsequently been transferred to shadow libraries many times. Even the mere retrieval of files from a shadow library, even if they were not read, saved or printed, would be illegal.

Hanjo Hamann and Daniel Hürlimann point out that the use of Sci-Hub is legal under Swiss law due to the self-use regulation.

In March 2019, based on a lawsuit brought by Elsevier and Springer Nature , the Parisian Tribunal de grande instance ordered that French internet access providers be obliged to block access to Sci-Hub and Library Genesis.

literature

  • Michaela Rossini: Shadow Libraries, The Moral Obligation to Share, and the Legacy of Aaron Swartz . Master thesis, University of Innsbruck. 2016, urn : nbn: at: at-ubi: 1-5012 .
  • John Bohannon: Who's downloading pirated papers? Everyone . In: Science . tape 352 , no. 6285 , April 29, 2016, p. 508-512 ( sciencemag.org [accessed November 26, 2017]).
  • Joe Karaganis: Shadow libraries. Access to educational materials in global higher education . The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA 2018, ISBN 978-0-262-53501-4 ( mit.edu - Open Access).
  • Joe Karaganis, Balazs Bodo: Russia is building a new Napster - but for academic research . In: The Washington Post . July 13, 2018 ( washingtonpost.com ).
  • Eric Steinhauer: The use of a “shadow library” in the light of copyright law: Some considerations using the example of Sci-Hub - a discussion paper . 2016 ( fernuni-hagen.de [PDF; accessed on November 25, 2017]).
  • Dorothea Strecker: Shadow Libraries: A Crisis Symptom of Science . In: iRights - Creativity and Copyright in the Digital World . August 11, 2017 ( irights.info [accessed January 4, 2018]).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Balázs Bodó, Miriam Ruhenstroth: Shadow Libraries: Piracy or Necessity? In: iRights - Creativity and Copyright in the Digital World . October 10, 2014 ( irights.info [accessed January 4, 2018]).
  2. ↑ a b c Dorothea Strecker: shadow libraries: a crisis symptom of science . In: iRights - Creativity and Copyright in the Digital World . August 11, 2017 ( irights.info [accessed January 4, 2018]).
  3. ↑ Christoph Cadenbach, Tobias Kniebe: Once upon a time ... In: Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin . No. 40 , 2011 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed January 4, 2018]).
  4. ↑ a b c d e Steinhauer, Eric, W .: Use of a "shadow library" in the light of copyright law: Some considerations using the example of Sci-Hub - a discussion paper . 2016 ( fernuni-hagen.de [accessed on January 4, 2018]).
  5. ^ A b Balázs Bodó: Libraries in the post-scarcity era . FarnhamAshgate9781472431653, 2015, ISBN 978-1-4724-3165-3 ( uva.nl [accessed January 4, 2018]).
  6. ^ Ulrich Herb: Wissenschaftsverlag Elsevier sues against shadow library. June 14, 2015, accessed January 4, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Andre Meister: Interview with e-book pirates: "The book publishers make exactly the same mistakes as the music industry". In: netzpolitik.org. September 25, 2013, accessed January 4, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Ulrich Herb, Timo Grampes: Scientific texts for free online - piracy in the name of a good cause . In: Deutschlandfunk Kultur . February 24, 2016 ( deutschlandfunkkultur.de [accessed January 4, 2018]).
  9. ^ Ulrich Herb: Guerrilla Open Access and Robin Hood PR against market failure. March 4, 2016, accessed January 4, 2018 .
  10. ^ Quirin Schiermeier: US court grants Elsevier millions in damages from Sci-Hub . In: Nature . doi : 10.1038 / nature.2017.22196 ( nature.com [accessed January 4, 2018]).
  11. ↑ ECJ, judgment in the case C-527/15 - Stichting Brein - from April 26, 2017 - press release No. 40/17 - full text
  12. ↑ Hanjo Hamann, Daniel Hürlimann: Open Access for the publication of legal specialist literature - what's the point? In: Hanjo Hamann, Daniel Hürlimann (Eds.): Open Access in Law . Nomos, Baden-Baden 2019, ISBN 978-3-7489-0365-9 , pp. 9–36, 7 , doi : 10.5771 / 9783748903659-9 ( nomos-elibrary.de [accessed on November 1, 2019]).
  13. ↑ So even without a detailed explanation: Christian Gutknecht: Big Bang instead of Big Deal? Negotiations in Switzerland with Elsevier, Springer and Wiley threaten to fail. In: wisspub.net. November 20, 2019, accessed on November 23, 2019 (German).
  14. ^ French ISPs Ordered to Block Sci-Hub and LibGen. In: TorrentFreak. March 31, 2019, accessed April 3, 2019 (English, judgment ).