Organized by the artist-led organization Fight for the Future, over 600 artists have signed a letter demanding major labels to drop a lawsuit that threatens the existence of the Internet Archive.
Considered the Library of Alexandria of the digital age, the Internet Archive non-profit is one of the only dedicated spaces for digital preservation with the renown, care, and attention it has retained. With a large majority of its material being out of print or obsolete in the modern day, the Archive is a precious resource for artists, fans, and historians alike.
Are you a fan of a band that existed prior to the ritual of posting on social media after a concert? Check the Internet Archive, as they may be featured among the website’s hundreds of thousands of concert recordings. Curious about obscure VHS tapes or radio shows of the past? The Archive has you covered.
Looking for a track only available on the 78 rpm records that predated the vinyl record in the 1890s? The Internet Archive’s community-driven Great 78 Project that seeks to digitize the rare materials is a treasure trove for the niche fanatic or merely curious individual.
If this sounds like an awe-inspiring, nearly endless resource built upon the passion of preservation, that’s because the Internet Archive is exactly that- however, to major record labels, such a space seemed to pose a major threat.
Filed in August of 2023, Universal Music Group and Sony Music filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the Great 78 project, describing it as an “illegal record store” that performed “wholesale theft of generations of music” under the guise of preservation and research- which the labels claim is all but a “smokescreen.”
This lawsuit would cost the Internet Archive a total of $621 million in so-called damages for the supposed loss of streams grossed as a result of such a project. However, as critics of the labels have pointed out, these 78 records would only cost a total of $41,000 in their entirety based upon their streams thus far.
Such a lawsuit could spell the end for the Archive in its entirety, not just the Great 78 project- including its universally applicable WayBack Machine.
Defendant and expert audio preservationist George Blood who was recruited for the Great 78 Project argues exactly what countless fans and archivists have stated prior- a vast majority of the material being converted would have become media lost to time if not for the care and attention given by the folks behind Internet Archive, who in turn are maintaining not only the sounds of the past but the past itself.
The response from the music community has been a resounding echo of this sentiment, as in the efforts of the artist-led Fight For The Future which has been fighting legal battles for the online musician and user since 2011. In an open letter to Sony, Universal, and other major music labels, Fight For The Future and over 600 artists at the time of writing have demanded the lawsuit be dropped.
Above all, the letter states that musicians “don’t believe that the Internet Archive should be destroyed in [their] name.” The three main demands made are for the labels to 1. Protect our diverse music legacy, 2. Invest in living, working musicians- not back catalogs or monopolies, and 3. to make streaming services pay fair compensation.
Fight For the Future and all of the artists featured share one main argument- in a time where musicians are struggling to get by, why on earth should labels sink so much time, effort, and money destroying a public good?
“The music industry is not struggling anymore. Only musicians are. We demand a course-correction now, focused on the legacies and futures of working musicians.”
Thus far, notable names featured in the letter’s signatures include the lead singer of Riot Grrrl group Bikini Kill Kathleen Hanna, founder of Death By Audio and member of A Place To Bury Strangers Oliver Ackermann, Billie Marten, AJJ, and an ever-expanding countless more.
Want to take action yourself and make your voice heard on the matter? If you’re an artist, you have until Wednesday, December 18 at 12:00 PM EST to add your name to the list of signatures here.
In addition to signing, some musicians are planning to upload music files or live sets of their own to the Archive in solidarity. If you have a recording you’d like to contribute to the cause while simultaneously expanding a public resource for good, visit the Internet Archive’s uploading guidelines.
Are you a music fan or simply a user of the Internet Archive that wants to make a difference? You can sign in solidarity with musicians, archivists, and the average online consumer alike here.
To keep up to date on Fight For the Future’s fight against this major lawsuit and all of their other initiatives, as well as to preserve the Internet Archive for generations to come, be sure to visit their official website.
