Talk:Shadow library

Attribution notice

The first revision of this article is derived from machine- translation of the German-language Wikipedia article de:Schattenbibliothek, as allowed under Wikipedia's licensing provisions. -- The Anome (talk) 16:07, 23 September 2020 (UTC)

Other usage of the term

Just noting here that "shadow library" has also been used to describe physical vaults, so some disambiguation or at least explanation may be needed. For example: Spencer, Brett (2014). "Rise of the Shadow Libraries: America's Quest to Save Its Information and Culture from Nuclear Destruction during the Cold War". Information & Culture. 49 (2): 145–176. ISSN 2164-8034. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 15:47, 15 February 2025 (UTC)

"Some academics and authors have tacitly or explicitly endorsed shadow library efforts."

It would be good to contrast this with authors who have criticized them. Most legal challenges to them have been forwarded by publishers, but a few have started with authors themselves, especially as they pertain to LLM training (here and here). BruschettaFan (talk) 19:14, 15 February 2025 (UTC)

Yep, agreed this article needs a lot more coverage of the opposition to shadow libraries, which is largely absent. GorillaWarfare (she/her • talk) 19:17, 15 February 2025 (UTC)

Extending this, it might make sense to organize the reception section by audience, e.g. reactions from publishers, authors, academics, the public at large. BruschettaFan (talk) 20:51, 15 February 2025 (UTC)

Oceanofpdf?

Would it be appropriate to mention Oceanofpdf as a shadow library? It definitionally is but no reliable sources describe it as one. BruschettaFan (talk) 17:44, 23 March 2025 (UTC)

World Wide information on Shadow Libraries

Has anyone ever found information on Shadow Libraries world wide? Musicaltheaterlover (talk) 17:09, 21 October 2025 (UTC)