More than 600 artists, including Tegan & Sara, Open Mike Eagle, Amanda Palmer, and Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna, have signed an open letter demanding Universal Music Group (UMG) and other music labels drop their $621 million lawsuit against the Internet Archive.

The lawsuit specifically targets the Internet Archive's Great 78 Project, which preserves over 400,000 historical recordings from 78 RPM records, including works by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Frank Sinatra.

The artists' letter, organized by Fight for the Future, proposes three main alternatives to support musicians:

1. Partner with organizations like the Internet Archive to preserve original recordings and music culture
2. Allow musicians to keep 100% of merchandise sales
3. End vertical investments in streaming services like Spotify

The letter emphasizes that while the music industry is projected to exceed $100 billion in revenues by 2031, individual musicians are struggling to survive due to various factors:

• Live Nation's monopolistic touring practices
• Unfair streaming revenue models
• Demonetization and censorship by DSPs
• Physical archive losses due to corporate decisions

If successful, the lawsuit could force the Internet Archive to pay $621 million in damages for music streamed since 2006. This follows the Archive's recent loss in a separate lawsuit with book publishers over ebook lending practices.

The artists argue that the lawsuit threatens a crucial nonprofit cultural institution and calls for the music industry to prioritize artists' interests over shareholder profits.

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