Open Letter to the Record Labels Suing the Internet Archive

We, the undersigned, call on the record labels and members of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)—including UMG, Capitol Records, Concord Bicycle Assets, CMGI Recorded Music Assets, Sony Music Entertainment, and Arista Music—to drop your lawsuit against the Internet Archive.

Your $700 million lawsuit, targeting the Internet Archive’s efforts to preserve and provide access to historical 78rpm records, is not just about music—it’s about whether our digital history survives at all.

These fragile recordings are part of a vanishing American culture. They capture early jazz, blues, gospel, and folk—voices and sounds that might otherwise be lost forever. The Internet Archive’s Great 78 Project seeks to preserve that legacy, and make it available for research.

But your lawsuit doesn’t just threaten these recordings. It threatens the very existence of the Internet Archive, including the Wayback Machine, a vital public service used by millions every day to access historical snapshots of the internet. Journalists, educators, students, lawyers, and citizens use the Wayback Machine to check sources, investigate disinformation, and preserve public accountability.

This lawsuit is an existential threat to critical infrastructure for the internet. At a time when digital information is being deleted, rewritten, and erased, preservation is more important than ever. We cannot afford to lose the tools that safeguard memory and defend facts.

We urge you to drop this lawsuit and support, rather than punish, the preservation of our shared cultural heritage.

Defend the Internet Archive. Protect the Wayback Machine. Drop the 78s lawsuit.