Different perspective from a Vox article 22 days later. Things may not be as dire as the ArsTechnica article stated.

Relevant quotes because its from Vox and I don't want anybody to have to go there that doesn't want to...

What is true is that the lawsuit asks for a court injunction against the Internet Archive — but it only asks for a halt to the practice of copying books for loan in the Open Library itself, not the entire IA. And while the IA’s supporters might decry the demise of the library itself — after all, a permanent injunction against digitizing works under copyright would decimate the library, though public domain books would remain available — the lawsuit takes pains to clarify that the publishers aren’t trying to shut down the rest of the Internet Archive.

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But in fact, the lawsuit seeks financial damages only for the sharing of 127 books under copyright, including titles like Gone Girl, A Dance with Dragons, and The Catcher in the Rye. If the court awards the plaintiffs the maximum amount provided under the law, the most the Internet Archive would have to pay would be $19 million — essentially equivalent to one year of operating revenue, according to IA tax documents. That’s a huge setback, but for the IA, a tech nonprofit that relies heavily on grants and public donations, it’s not the major death blow it might seem to be.