Library Genesis

Library Genesis

Library Genesis is a file-sharing based shadow library website for scholarly journal articles, academic and general-interest books, images, comics, and magazines. Controversy surrounds the copyright status of many works accessible through this website. In late October 2015, the District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered Libgen to shut down.

About Library Genesis in brief

Summary Library GenesisLibrary Genesis is a file-sharing based shadow library website for scholarly journal articles, academic and general-interest books, images, comics, and magazines. The site enables free access to content that is otherwise paywalled or not digitized elsewhere. Controversy surrounds the copyright status of many works accessible through this website. Some publishers like Elsevier have accused Library Genesis of providing pirate access to articles and books.

In turn, others assert that academic publishers benefit from government-funded research. In late October 2015, the District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered Libgen to shut down and to suspend use of the domain name, but the site is accessible through alternate domains.