Will the entire Internet Archive website be taken offline before 2025?

The Internet Archive maintains a digital lending library that lends out digital copies of books it has in its physical possession, such that one physical copy corresponds to one digital copy for lending.

During the COVID-19 pandemic and the initial lockdowns in 2020, the Internet Archive expanded digital lending to allow an unlimited number of copies. This decision led to a lawsuit filed by several publishers against the Internet Archive, alleging copyright violation. In March 2023, a lower court ruled against the Internet Archive, although they plan to continue fighting the case.

A judgment against the Internet Archive could be devastating, as it is a free website funded by donations and may lose a significant amount of money to the publishing houses seeking damages. Furthermore, publishers seem to oppose the entire operation of the Internet Archive, from its public domain work to its Wayback Machine, which is the largest archive of the Internet in existence.