Sci-Hub, the site that provides free access to pirated academic papers, has been ordered to pay $15 million by a U.S. district court to Elsevier for “unlawfully accessing and distributing its copyrighted papers.”
Sci-Hub, the site that provides free access to pirated academic papers, has been ordered to pay $15 million by a U.S. district court to Elsevier, the Dutch-based company which is one of the world's major providers of scientific, technical, and medical information. It is also one of the top four publishers whose papers are available on Sci-Hub, the others being Springer Nature, Wiley-Blackwell, and American Chemical Society.
In year 2015, Elsevier had pressed charges against Sci-Hub and the Library Genesis Project (Libgen) for “unlawfully accessing and distributing its copyrighted papers.” New York district judge Robert Sweet ruled that the site indeed violates U.S. copyright and that is should be discontinued. However, Sci-Hub operators continued to keep the site running under different domain names and IP addresses. Elsevier then asked for a permanent ban on the site along with damages worth $15 million for making 100 articles available for unlawful downloading. In the latest hearing of the case, Sci-Hub founder Alexandra Elbakyan was not represented in the court by lawyers, and hence, the judge ruled in favor of Elsevier. It is, however, unclear whether Elbakyan would pay the damages to Elsevier.
Elbakyan maintains that she began the site with the intention of helping researchers access papers without any barriers. Maria A. Pallante, President and CEO of the Association of American Publishers (AAS), said that, “The Court has not mistaken illegal activity for a public good.” While several academics agree that while the site is illegal, its popularity points to a major problem of accessibility of published scientific literature. Elsevier has been receiving backlash as libraries and institutions are unable to afford its high subscription costs. Academic institutions of countries such as Taiwan, Germany, and Netherlands are attempting to make a deal with the publishing company for fairer pricing. Since Elbakyan operates Sci-Hub from Russia, it remains to be seen if the U.S. law becomes successful in preventing the site from continuing to provide access to pirated scientific literature.
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