In an open letter, the UK’s Society of Authors (SoA) has said that the Internet Archive Open Library’s practice of Controlled Digital Lending breaches copyright.
It its letter the Society states that there is no legal basis for scanning books without permission or in making them available within the UK
We are calling on you to cease this practice which infringes the copyright of writers and is unquestionably unlawful in the UK.
We look forward to hearing from you by 1 February confirming that you will immediately take measures to ensure that Open Library books are not made available for downloading in the UK. We also demand that you stop scanning books by UK authors without permission.
The Society of Authors represents 10,500 writers.
Sources:The Bookseller; Society of Authors.