Capitol, Sony and Universal Music Group have filed a copyright lawsuit against the Internet Archive and its founder, Brewster Kahle, over the “Great 78 Project,” an initiative focused on preserving and providing free access to music from pre-1972, and artists such as Louis Armstrong, Elle Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. 

In the suit, which was officially filed on Friday, August 11, 2023, the labels above claimed that “Great 78 Project” violates copyright and argued that “transferring copies of those files to members of the public, Internet Archive has reproduced and distributed without authorization Plaintiffs’ protected sound recordings.” 

The plaintiffs in this case comprise Concord Bicycle Assets, CMGI Recorded Music Assets, and Arista Music, all of whom hold full or partial copyrights to music within the collection. They argue that the recordings were illicitly distributed to users. The lawsuit further asserts that the defendants have previously demonstrated a disregard for copyright law. The claim asserts, “Defendants attempt to justify their extensive appropriation of generations of music under the guise of ‘preservation and research,’ but this façade is misleading. Their activities extend well beyond these limited purposes.”

The Internet Archives are known for digging up concert footage via the platform’s Live Music Archive, which has existed for over 20 years. Moreover, last week, the site celebrated their acquisition of over 250,000 recordings, ranging from live performances of the Grateful Dead to Phil Lesh & Friends and others.