As the year 2022 came to a close, a significant event occurred that may have gone unnoticed by many. The famous online repository of ebooks and articles, Z-library, was shut down. This event serves as a reminder of how too much attention can have negative consequences. In this blog post, we will delve deeper into the story of Zlibrary and the issues surrounding shadow libraries, intellectual property rights, and access to knowledge.
The Impact of Digitized Info: The Rise of Z-library
Z-library is an online repository of ebooks and articles
that provides free access to information and knowledge. The site started in
2009 and has since grown to be one of the largest shadow libraries on the
internet. According to Fast
Company:
"Z-Library offered more than 10 million ebooks and 86
million articles at its peak, with a limited number of monthly downloads
accessible to millions of users free of charge, and more available for a small
fee."
Many people around the world rely on such resources as they may need access to the expensive subscription-based services that are often required to access academic articles and books. Proponents of websites like Zlibrary, Sci-Hub, and Libgen argue that they strive to break down barriers to knowledge and education, enabling users to access the information they need to learn and grow.
The TikTok Effect on Zlibrary: More Popularity, More
Problems
The rising popularity of Z-library, however, attracted the
scrutiny of copyright holders and legal authorities, putting both the site and
its users in a vulnerable position. The increased attention also raised legal
questions about using such a resource.
However, the attention that Zlibrary received on TikTok was a double-edged sword. While it certainly helped spread the word about the site, it also brought more attention to its illegal activities. This attracted the attention of copyright holders and legal authorities, namely the FBI.
Starving Students vs Starving Artists: Who really benefits from the closure of Z-library?
According to the Washington
Post, the FBI has charged two Russian nationals, Anton Napolsky and
Valeriia Ermakova, with criminal copyright infringement, wire fraud and money
laundering for operating Z-Library. The authorities took down the website on
November 4th and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Breon
Peace, stated that the defendants profited illegally by uploading works within
hours of publication and victimized authors, publishers, and booksellers in the
process.
The Washington Post also noted how authors and users had a clash of opinions. Users were mourning the loss of their ability to download free textbooks, novels, and academic papers. However, authors were relieved by the shutdown as they argued that piracy harms their sales and the publishing industry and that mourning Z-library is mourning the end of theft.
But is this really a debate between starving students and starving artists? Not really.
According to a report by Citigroup obtained by Rolling Stone, in the music industry's digital streaming era, the people who make the most money from copyrighted content like books or music are not the artist/author, but the holder of the copyright. They take nearly 90% of the money.
The story of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the authors of the original Superman comic book, highlights the unfortunate reality that creators of copyrighted content may not always receive fair compensation for their work. Despite the immense success and wealth generated by Superman and the concept of superheroes, the inventors only received a small sum of $130 for signing over the rights to their creation to D.C. Comics. This has led to ongoing legal battles, with the families of the inventors seeking their fair share of the fortune generated by the invention. Of course, the copyright holders won.
The Z-library Takedown: Can we just dismiss the concern of students?
One tweet succinctly summed up the students' feelings, stating "The closure of Zlibrary is like the burning of the Library of Alexandria in our time." This tweet draws parallels between the loss of this online library and the historical burning of the Library of Alexandria during the reign of Julius Caesar.
 |
| Burning Z-Library: Rendered by Stable Diffusion 2.1 |
Can we just dismiss this as students being overly emotional? Well, it's more complicated than that.
As noted in the Huntington News, a 2014 study found that the average cost of a college textbook is about $105, which is difficult to justify for most college students. In the same study, 65% of college students said they didn't purchase their required textbooks even though they knew it could hurt their grade.
The burden of student debt is heavy for many young people in Canada and the U.S. In Canada, the total amount of student loans owed to the federal government reached a staggering $22.3 billion in 2020. And this figure doesn't even consider provincial and personal loans, lines of credit and education-related credit-card debt. On average, a Canadian student graduating with a bachelor's degree holds $28,000 in student loan debt, while college grads hold $15,300 in debt. In the U.S., the situation is similarly dire. For 2023, the total amount of student loan debt (including federal and private loans) has reached $1.75 trillion. The average student borrower holds $28,950 in debt.
The situation in Canada and the U.S. has a wide-reaching social impact, as this debt load can make it difficult for young people to start their careers, buy homes, or even save for retirement. It is clear that the cost of education is a growing concern not just for students but for society as a whole.
Consequently, the Z-library debate must be connected to the economic reality that students face, such as the rising costs of education, high levels of student debt, and a lack of affordable access to educational resources. It highlights how the students' anger at the site's shutdown is a part of a broader crisis they face. It is essential to understand this context when discussing the issues surrounding shadow libraries and intellectual property rights.
Digital Tech: Innovation and the Struggle for a Knowledge Society
The Z-library debate highlights how intellectual property can be an obstacle to creating a knowledge society. From a technological standpoint, the ability to digitize text, information, and knowledge can revolutionize access to information and education. However, as demonstrated by Zlibrary, the economic realities of the publishing industry and the protection of intellectual property rights often stand in the way of this potential. Technology has advanced, but the economics have not evolved to keep pace, resulting in the same exploitative dynamics seen in other industries such as music and comics. To truly create a knowledge society, we must re-examine how intellectual property laws and systems can be adapted to enable access to information and knowledge for all rather than just protecting the profits of a select few.
Author: Malik Datardina, CPA, CA, CISA. Malik works at Auvenir as a GRC Strategist that is working to transform the engagement experience for accounting firms and their clients. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent UWCISA, UW, Auvenir (or its affiliates), CPA Canada or anyone else.
