The current legal issue around the Internet Archive's library came to a head because IA decided to remove restrictions on lending. They changed from the "we hav

The current legal issue around the Internet Archive's library came to a head because IA decided to remove restrictions on lending. They changed from the "we have one copy, so we lend one copy" model that libraries follow to "we have a one copy, so everyone can have a copy at the same time" for a period of time. Had they not done that, the publishers knew they faced an uphill battle because of the first-sale doctrine. But once Pandora's box was opened, the publishers saw their chance to stamp out the whole thing by arguing "well they did it once, what's to stop them from doing it again?" IA made a well-intentioned but ill-advised decision.