Copyright and Access to Cultural Works

Paris Marx is joined by Maria Bustillos to discuss the important work of the Internet Archive, why it opened a digital National Emergency Library during the pandemic, how access to culture is essential for the social good, and why the major publishers are trying to permanently restrict digital lending in a narrow-minded bid for short-term profit.

Maria Bustillos is the founding editor of Popula and Brick House. She recently wrote about the major publishers’ lawsuit against the Internet Archive for The Nation. Find out more about Brick House and follow Maria on Twitter as @mariabustillos.

Tech Won't Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter.

Find out more about Harbinger Media Network and follow it on Twitter as @harbingertweets.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• Nail Gaiman explained how piracy is the digital equivalent of lending and increased the sales of his books.
• How long copyright terms make our culture disappear.
• Microsoft simply turned off access to all the ebooks it sold with DRM.
• Amazon deleted copies of George Orwell’s “1984” from people’s Kindles.
• The new North American trade agreement extended Canadian copyright terms by 20 years.
• It’s unlikely that US copyright terms will be extended again. The Authors Guild would even be open to reducing terms by 20 years.

Support the show