Following the shutdown of Z-Library in late 2022, a shadow library called ‘Anna’s Archive’ emerged, boldly claiming to be the “largest truly open library in human history.” However, a complaint filed by the Italian Publishers Association in December 2023 presents a contrasting narrative. Representing publishers of books, scientific journals, and digital content, the association’s complaint prompted immediate action from the telecoms regulator AGCOM, instructing ISPs to block access to the site.
Over the past decade, platforms such as Sci-Hub, Libgen, and Z-Library have emerged as prominent players in the realm of online piracy, transcending the landscape dominated by unauthorized movie, TV show, and music platforms.
In 2022, Pirate Library Mirror (PiLiMi) made waves by obtaining a full copy of Z-Library before its legal issues arose, openly flaunting copyright laws to disseminate books widely. In November 2022, a PiLiMi team member known as ‘Anna Archivist’ established ‘Anna’s Archive,’ promising access to content from Z-Library and Libgen through a unified interface. In just over a year, the platform has expanded to become the “largest truly open library in human history,” boasting a collection of 25.5 million books and 99.4 million papers by mirroring Sci-Hub, Libgen, Z-Library, and other repositories.
However, Anna’s Archive’s rapid rise to prominence has drawn the ire of copyright holders, leading to its inevitable fate. Following a copyright complaint filed by the Italian Publishers Association (AIE) on December 4, 2023, the platform will now face blocking measures in Italy. AIE, representing publishers controlling 90% of the local market, cited over 30 books in its complaint, emphasizing that this represents merely a fraction of the copyrighted content distributed by Anna’s Archive.
“The website annas-archive.org claims to be a mirror of various ‘shadow libraries’ and boasts a collection of over 25 million books and nearly 100 million scholarly articles, accessible through numerous links for each work. The complaint alleges several thousand unauthorized reproductions of works belonging to Italian publishers.”
An investigation conducted by Italy’s Digital Services Directorate confirmed that the content referenced in the complaint was indeed accessible via Anna’s Archive. Based on these findings, investigators concluded that this constituted a case of “serious and massive infringement.”
Official documentation revealed that the operator of Anna’s Archive could not be identified. However, with the assistance of Cloudflare, Epinatura LLC, a hosting provider based in Kiev, Ukraine, was identified as the likely host of at least some of the platform’s servers. Notifications were sent to various service providers, cautioning them that compliance with a blocking request from the publishers was a potential outcome.
Following the absence of counterclaims from the notified parties and the determination of mass infringement on the site, an order was issued to Italian ISPs to disable https://annas-archive.org via a DNS block within 48 hours. Visitors attempting to access the site are now redirected to a blocking page in Italian.
Despite the perpetual blocking measures against its primary domain, Anna’s Archive operates alternative domains such as annas-archive.gs and annas-archive.se. However, the blocking order extends to “all future domain names of the same site.”
Should the shadow library wish to contest the decision, it has until mid-February to file a response before the Lazio Regional Administrative Court. As of now, the site’s operator has no intention of doing so. Instead, they advise users to utilize VPNs or TOR (free!) to circumvent censorship.
