Appeals Court Rules Nonprofit Can’t Scan Books to Internet

The Internet Archive makes scanned books available to people for free.

The Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse stands in Lower Manhattan, New York, on Jan. 18, 2019. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

A federal appeals court has ruled that a nonprofit violated copyright law when it made e-books, made from scans of printed books, available for free.

A federal judge in 2023 ruled against the Internet Archive, finding its digital free library violated the copyrights of 127 books, including “The Bell” Jar by Sylvia Plath. The nonprofit appealed.