Federal injunction targets Anna’s Archive over WorldCat data, signaling broader pressure on hosting and domains
A federal court in Ohio granted a default judgment and a permanent injunction against Anna’s Archive at the request of OCLC, barring scraping, storage, or distribution of WorldCat data (including torrents) and ordering deletion of such data. The order applies to the site and third parties “in active concert” with it, based on trespass to chattels and breach of contract via a browsewrap-like understanding. No monetary damages were awarded, but the injunction could prompt hosting providers and registrars to take down the service or remove WorldCat data. Previous domain suspensions are noted but not the basis of the injunction.