How does Archive.org work?

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Is it actually copyright free? How can such a large library of downloadable content come without any issues? Do they contact all the owners of the footage/work and they release it to them? Am I able to then use any of it in my own projects?

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30 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

It’s not copyright free. It’s probably supposed to be, but if you’re looking for old yet still copyrighted material, it’s a go-to.

Anonymous 0 Comments

[removed]

Anonymous 0 Comments

So, you know how you have a toy box where you keep all your favorite toys? Well, archive.org is kind of like a really, really big toy box, but instead of toys, it keeps lots of old websites, videos, music, and other things that people have made over the years.

Now, just like how you might ask your friends if you can borrow their toys to play with, the people who run archive.org ask if they can borrow all these old things and keep them safe in their toy box. Sometimes, the people who made these things say “yes,” and then they give archive.org permission to keep their stuff in the toy box for everyone to see and use. And sometimes, the people who made these things are not around anymore, so nobody knows who to ask for permission. In that case, archive.org just keeps the thing in the toy box and lets people look at it, but they try really hard to make sure they’re not doing anything wrong.

Now, sometimes when people make things like videos or music, they say that nobody is allowed to use their stuff without asking first. That’s called “copyright.” Archive.org is very careful to follow the copyright rules, and they only keep things in the toy box that the people who made them said were okay to use. So, if you want to use something from archive.org in your own project, you should make sure that it says you’re allowed to do that first.

Overall, archive.org is a really cool toy box that lets people see and use all sorts of interesting things that people made a long time ago.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Mostly they focus on legitimate archival that doesn’t draw any copyright claims, such as abandoned content. But they absolutely do [respect legitimate DMCA takedown requests](https://help.archive.org/help/i-cant-find-my-items/).

One thing that’s special about them is that [they received an exemption for the DMCA anti-circumvention clause](https://archive.org/about/dmca.php). This allows them to host materials with copy protection removed.

Recently they’ve come under fire because of [their digital lending library](https://www.npr.org/2023/03/26/1166101459/internet-archive-lawsuit-books-library-publishers).

Anonymous 0 Comments

[removed]

Anonymous 0 Comments

[removed]

Anonymous 0 Comments

It’s not copyright free. It’s probably supposed to be, but if you’re looking for old yet still copyrighted material, it’s a go-to.

Anonymous 0 Comments

It’s not copyright free. It’s probably supposed to be, but if you’re looking for old yet still copyrighted material, it’s a go-to.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Mostly they focus on legitimate archival that doesn’t draw any copyright claims, such as abandoned content. But they absolutely do [respect legitimate DMCA takedown requests](https://help.archive.org/help/i-cant-find-my-items/).

One thing that’s special about them is that [they received an exemption for the DMCA anti-circumvention clause](https://archive.org/about/dmca.php). This allows them to host materials with copy protection removed.

Recently they’ve come under fire because of [their digital lending library](https://www.npr.org/2023/03/26/1166101459/internet-archive-lawsuit-books-library-publishers).

Anonymous 0 Comments

So, you know how you have a toy box where you keep all your favorite toys? Well, archive.org is kind of like a really, really big toy box, but instead of toys, it keeps lots of old websites, videos, music, and other things that people have made over the years.

Now, just like how you might ask your friends if you can borrow their toys to play with, the people who run archive.org ask if they can borrow all these old things and keep them safe in their toy box. Sometimes, the people who made these things say “yes,” and then they give archive.org permission to keep their stuff in the toy box for everyone to see and use. And sometimes, the people who made these things are not around anymore, so nobody knows who to ask for permission. In that case, archive.org just keeps the thing in the toy box and lets people look at it, but they try really hard to make sure they’re not doing anything wrong.

Now, sometimes when people make things like videos or music, they say that nobody is allowed to use their stuff without asking first. That’s called “copyright.” Archive.org is very careful to follow the copyright rules, and they only keep things in the toy box that the people who made them said were okay to use. So, if you want to use something from archive.org in your own project, you should make sure that it says you’re allowed to do that first.

Overall, archive.org is a really cool toy box that lets people see and use all sorts of interesting things that people made a long time ago.