Belgium’s copyright authority ordered the Internet Archive to block listed Open Library books inside Belgium within 20 days or pay a €500,000 fine, and to prevent their future digital lending. This uses national copyright law to compel a foreign nonprofit to implement country‑level content controls, sidestepping U.S. fair‑use claims.
— It signals a broader move toward fragmented, jurisdiction‑by‑jurisdiction control of online libraries and platforms, constraining fair‑use models and accelerating internet balkanization.
BeauHD
2026.01.06
78% relevant
The Anna's Archive .org suspension parallels the Internet Archive/Belgium order: both show courts and rights‑holders seeking to use registry/platform controls to remove or block access to contested collections—here the .org 'serverHold' is the registry action analogous to geo‑blocking orders that force cross‑jurisdictional content removal.
msmash
2025.10.09
95% relevant
Belgium’s Department for Combating Infringements of Copyright has directed the Internet Archive to block listed Open Library books for Belgian users within 20 days, with a fine for non‑compliance—precisely the geo‑blocking enforcement described in the idea.
BeauHD
2025.10.09
100% relevant
Belgium’s Department for Combating Infringements of Copyright decision requiring IA to self‑block specified titles in Belgium under a €500,000 penalty and a 20‑day deadline.
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